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XXVI. APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE: OR, THE
COMMUNICATION OF SF.NSATIONS, IDEAS, AND EMOTIONS OTHERWISE

THAN BY THE KNOWN SENSES. By FltANK PODMORE. Illustrated.

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EDITED BY HAVELOCK ELLIS.

APPARITIONS
AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

APPARITIONS

AND

THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE

AN EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE
FOR TELEPATHY.

BY

FRANK PODMORE, M.A.

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON :

WALTER SCOTT, LTD.,

24 WARWICK LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1894.

VI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

PVGE

EXPERIMENTAL TRANSFERENCE OF SIMPLE SENSA-
TIONS WITH HYPNOTISED PERCIPIENTS ... 58

Transference of tastes, by Dr. Azam Of pain, by
Edmund Gurney Of visual images, by Dr. Liebeault,
Professor and Mrs. Henry Sidgwick, Dr. Gibotteau, Dr.
Blair Thaw.

CHAPTER IV.

EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS AND

OTHER EFFECTS 82

Inhibition of action by silent willing, by Edmund Gurney,
Professor Barrett, and others Origination of action by
silent willing, by Dr. Blair Thaw, M. J. II. P., and
others Planchette-writing, by Rev. P. II. Newnham, Mr.
R. H. Buttemer Table-tilting, by the Author, by Professor
Richet Production of local anaesthesia, by Edmund
Gurney, Mrs. H. Sidgwick.

CHAPTER V.

EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION OF TELEPATHIC EFFECTS

AT A DISTANCE ... ... ... ... 105

Induction of sleep, by Dr. Gibert and Professor Janet,
Professor Richet, Dr. Dufay Of hysteria and other effects,
by Dr. Tolosa-Latour, M. J. H. P. Transference of ideas
of sound, by Miss X., M. J. Ch. Roux Of visual
images, by Miss Campbell, M. Le*on Hennique, Mr. Kirk,
Dr. Gibotteau.

CONTENTS. Vli

CHAPTER VI.

PAGE

GENERAL CRITICISM OF THE EVIDENCE FOR SPON-
TANEOUS THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE 143

On chance coincidence Misrepresentation Errors of
observation Errors of inference Errors of narration
Errors of memory " Pseudo-presentiment " Precautions
against error-" Where are the letters? " The spontaneous
cases as a true natural group.

CHAPTER VII.

TRANSFERENCE OF IDEAS AND EMOTIONS 161

Transference of pain, Mr. Arthur Severn Of smell, Miss X.
Of ideas, Miss X. , Mrs. Barber Of visual images, Mr.
Haynes, Professor Richet, Dr. Dupr Of emotion, Mr. F.
H. Krebs, Dr. N., Miss Y. Of motor impulses, Archdeacon
Bruce, Professor Venturi.

CHAPTER VIII.

COINCIDENT DREAMS 185

Discussion of the evidence for telepathy derivable from
dreams Chance-coincidence Simultaneous dreams, the
Misses Bidder Transference of sensation in dreams, Pro-
fessor Royce, Mrs. Harrison Dreams conveying news of
death, etc., Mr. J. T., Mr. R. V. Boyle, Captain Camp--
bell, Mr. E. W. Hamilton, Mr. Edward A. Goodall Clair-
voyant dream, Mrs. E. J.

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IX.

PAGE

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL 207

Common misconceptions Hypnotic hallucinations, experi-
ments by MM. Binet and Fe*re, Mr. Myers Point de reptrc
Post-hypnotic hallucinations, Professor Liegeois, Edmund
Gurney Spontaneous hallucinations, Professor Sidgwick's
census Table showing classification of spontaneous hallu-
cinations Origin of hallucinations, sometimes telepathic
Proof of this, calculation of chance-coincidence, allow-
ance for defects of memory Conclusion.

CHAPTER X.

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS 226

Possible misconceptions Accounts of experiments, by Rev.
Clarence Godfrey, Herr Wesermann, Mr. H. P. Sparks, and

A. II. W. Cleave, Mrs B , Dr. von Schrenck-Notzing,

Dr. Wiltse, Mr. Kirk.

CHAPTER XI.

SPONTANEOUS TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS ... 247

Auditory hallucinations, Miss Clark, Mr. William Tudor
Visual hallucinations Incompletely developed, Countess
Eugenie Kapnist, Miss L. Caldecott, Dr. Carat Com-
pletely developed, Miss Berta Hurly, Mrs. Me Alpine,
Miss Mabel Gore Booth Hallucinations affecting two
senses, Rev. Matthew Frost, M. A .

CONTENTS. ix

CHAPTER XII.

J'AGE

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS 268

Illusions, epidemic hallucinations, illusions of memory
Explanations of collective hallucination Auditory hallucin-
ations, Mr. C. H. Gary, Miss Newbold Visual hallucina-
tions, Mrs. Greiffenberg, Mrs. Milman and Miss Camp-
bell, Mr. and Mrs. C , Mr. Falkinburg, Dr. W. O. S.,

Rev. C. H. Jupp Collective hallucinations with percipients
apart, Sister Martha and Madame Houdaille, Sir Lawrence
Jones and Mr. Herbert Jones.

CHAPTER XIII.

SOME LESS COMMON TYPES OF TELEPATHIC HALLU-
CINATION 297

Reciprocal cases, Rev. C. L. Evans and Miss A

misinterpreted message, Miss C. L. Hawkins-Dempster

Heteroplastic hallucination, Mrs. G , Frances Reddell,

Mr. John Husbands, Mr. J "Haunted houses,"

Mrs. Knott and others, Surgeon-Major W. and others.

CHAPTER XIV.

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE 326

Definition of clairvoyanceAccounts of phenomena observed
with Mrs. Piper, by Professor Lodge, Professor W. James,
and others Accounts of experiments by Mr. A. W. Dobbie,
Dr. Wiltse, Mr. W. Boyd, Dr. F , Dr. Backman.

X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV.

PAGE

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE ... 351

Observations of M. Keulemans Crystal-visions, Miss X. ,
Dr. Backman, Miss A. and Sir Joseph Barnby -Spontan-
eous clairvoyance, Mrs. Paquet, Mr, F. A, Marks, Mrs.
L. Z, Clairvoyance in dream, Mrs. Freese Clairvoyant
perceptivity in an experiment, Dr. Gibotteau.

CHAPTER XVI.

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS ... : ..... 371

t) the proof apparent The proof presumptive The
alleged influence of magnets and metals The alleged
marvels of spiritualism Usage of the word telepathy On
various theories of telepathy Difficulties of a physical
explanation Value of theory as a guide to investigation
Is telepathy a rudimentary or a vestigial faculty? Our
ignorance stands in the way of a conclusive answer Im-
perative need for more facts.

PREFACE.

THE following pages aim at presenting in brief
compass a selection of the evidence upon which
the hypothesis of thought-transference, or telepathy,
is based. It is now more than twelve years since
the Society for Psychical Research was founded, and
nearly eight since the publication of Phantasms of the
Living. Both in the periodical Proceedings of the
Society and in the pages of Edmund Gurney's book, 1 a
large mass of evidence has been laid before the public.
But the papers included in the Proceedings are inter-
spersed with other matter, some of it too technical for
the taste of the general reader; whilst the two volumes
of Phantasms of the Living, which have for some time

1 The book actually bore on the title-page the names of Edmund
Gurney, F. W. H. Myers, and the present writer. But the division of
authorship, as explained in the Preface, was as follows : " As regards
the writing and the views expressed, Mr. Myers is solely responsible
for the Introduction, and for the * Note on a Suggested Mode of
Psychical Interaction;' and Mr. Gurney is solely responsible for the
remainder of the book. . . . But the collection, examination, and
appraisal of evidence has been a joint labour."

Xll PREFACE.

been out of print, were too costly for the purse of
some, and too bulky for the patience of others. The
attention which, notwithstanding these drawbacks,
that work excited on its first appearance, the friendly
reception which it met with in many quarters, and the
fact that a considerable edition has been disposed of,
encouraged the hope that a book on somewhat similar
lines, but on a smaller scale, might be of service to
those and their number has probably increased
within the last few years who take a genuine interest
in this inquiry. Accordingly in the autumn of 1892
I obtained permission from the Council of the Society
for Psychical Research to make full use, in the com-
pilation of the present work, not merely of the
evidence already published by us, but of the not incon-
siderable mass of unpublished records in the posses-
sion of the Society.

It will be seen that the present book has little claim
to novelty of design ; but it is not merely an abridged
edition of the larger work referred to. On the one
hand it has a somewhat wider scope, and includes
accounts of telepathic clairvoyance and other pheno-
mena which did not enter into the scheme of Mr.
Gurney's book. On the other hand, the bulk of the
illustrative cases here quoted have been taken from
more recent records ; and, in particular, certain branches
of the experimental work have assumed a quite new
importance within the last few years. Thus the
experiments conducted by Mrs. Henry Sidgwick at
Brighton have strengthened the demonstration of

PREFACE. xiii

thought-transference, and have gone far to solve one
or two of the problems connected with the subject;
and the evidence for the experimental production of
telepathic effects at a distance has been greatly
enlarged by the work of MM. Janet and Gibert, 1
Richet, Gibotteau, Schrenck-Notzing, and in this
country by Mr. Kirk and others. 2 It may be added
that some of the criticisms called forth by Phantasms
of the Living, and our own further researches, have led
us to modify our estimate of the evidence in some
directions, and to strengthen generally the pre-
cautions taken against the unconscious warping of
testimony.

To say, however, that the following pages owe
much to Edmund Gurney is but to acknowledge
the obligation which all students of the subject
must recognise to his keen and vigorous intellect and
his colossal industry. My own debt is a more personal
one. To have worked under his guidance, and to
have been stimulated by his example, was an invalu-
able schooling in the qualities demanded by an
inquiry of this nature. Of the living, I owe grateful
thanks, in the first instance, to Professor and Mrs.
Henry Sidgwick, who have read through the whole
of the book in typescript, and have given help and
counsel throughout. Miss Alice Johnson, Mr. F.
W. H. Myers, the late Dr. A. T. Myers, Miss Porter,

1 Some account of the earlier experiments by MM. Janet and Gibert
was included in the supplementary chapter at the end of the second
volume of Phantasms.

8 See Chapters V. and X. of the present book.

XIV PREFACE.

and others have also given me welcome help in
various directions. In acknowledging this assistance,
however, it is right to add that, though I trust in my
estimate of the evidence presented, and in the general
tenour of the conclusions suggested, to find myself,
with few exceptions, in substantial agreement with
my colleagues, yet I have no claim to represent the
Society for Psychical Research, nor right to cloak
my own shortcomings with the authority of others.

One word more needs to be said. The evidence, of
which samples are presented in the following pages,
is as yet hardly adequate for the establishment of
telepathy as a fact in nature, and leaves much to be
desired for the elucidation of the laws under which
it operates. Any contributions to the problem, in
the shape either of accounts of experiments, or of
recent records of telepathic visions and similar
experiences, will be gladly received by me on behalf
of the Society for Psychical Research, at 19 Bucking-
ham Street, Adelphi, W.C.

FRANK PODMORE.
August 1894.

APPARITIONS
AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

APPARITIONS AND
THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL GROUNDS OF CAUTION.

IT is salutary sometimes to reflect how recent is the
growth of our scientific cosmos, and how brief an
interval separates it from the chaos which went before.
This may be seen even in Sciences which deal with
matters of common observation. Amongst material
phenomena the facts of Geology are assuredly not
least calculated to excite the curiosity or impress the
imagination of men. Yet until the middle of the last
century no serious attempt was made to solve the
physical problems they presented. The origin of the
organic remains embedded in the rocks had indeed
formed the subject of speculation ever since the
days of Aristotle. Theophrastus had suggested that
they were formed by the plastic forces of Nature.
Mediaeval astrologers ascribed their formation to
planetary influences. And these hypotheses, with the
alternative view of the Church, that fossil bones and
shells were relics of the Mosaic Deluge, appear to
have satisfied the learned of Europe until the time of
Voltaire, who reinforced the rationalistic position, as
he conceived it, by the suggestion that the shells, at

I

2 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

any rate, had been dropped from the hats of pilgrims
returning from the Holy Land. Yet Werner and
Hutton were even then preparing to elucidate the
causes of stratification and the genesis of the igneous
rocks. Cuvier in the next generation was to demon-
strate the essential analogies of the fossils found in
the Paris basin with living species ; Agassiz was to
investigate the relation of fossil fishes and to show
the true nature of their embedded remains, Nay,
even in the middle of the present century, so slow is
the growth and spread of organised knowledge, it was
possible for a pious Scotchman to ascribe the origin
of mountain chains to a cataclysm which, after the
fall of Man, had broken up and distorted the once
symmetrical surface of the earth; 1 for a Dean of
York to essay to bring the Mediaeval theory up to
date and prove that the whole series of geological
strata, with their varied organic remains, were formed
by volcanic eruptions acting in concert with the
Mosaic Deluge; 2 and for another English divine to
warn his readers against any sacrilegious meddling
with the arcana of the rocks, because they represented
the tentative essays of the Creator at organic forms
a concealed storehouse of celestial misfits! 3

The subject-matter of the present inquiry has
passed, or is now passing, through stages closely
similar to those above described. " Ghosts " and
warning dreams have been matters of popular belief
and interest since the earliest ages known to history,
and are prevalent amongst even the least advanced
races at the present time. The Specularii and Dr.
Dee have familiarised us with clairvoyance and
crystal vision. Many of the alleged marvels of

1 Primary and Present State of the Solar System^ by P. McFarlane.
Edinburgh, Thomas Grant, circa 1845.

2 At the meeting of the British Association in 1844; quoted by
Hugh Miller, Testimony of the Rocks ', pp. 358, 359.

8 A Brief and Complete Refutation of the Antiscriptural Theory of
the Geologists^ by a Clergyman of the Church of England. London,
1853 ; quoted by Hugh Miller, he. cit.

SPECIAL GROUNDS OF CAUTION. 3

witchcraft were probably due to the agency of
hypnotism, which in later times, under the various
names of mesmerism, electrobiology, animal mag-
netism, has attracted the curiosity of the unlettered,
and from time to time the serious interest of the
learned. These phenomena indeed were made the
subject of scientific inquiry, first in France and later
in England, during the first half of the present
century ; have now again, after a brief period of
eclipse, been investigated for the last two decades by
competent observers on the Continent, and are at
length winning a recognised footing in scientific
circles in this country. Yet within the last two or
three years we have witnessed the spectacle of more
than one medical man, of some repute in this island,
laughing to scorn all the researches of Charcot and
Bernheim, just as their prototypes a generation or two
ago ignored the results of Cuvier and Agassiz, and
held it an insult to the Creator to accept the scientific
explanation of coprolites.

And as regards the other subjects, to which must
be added the alleged marvels of the Spiritualists,
there have indeed been one or two isolated series
of observations by competent inquirers, but for the
most part the learned have held themselves free to
ascribe the phenomena without investigation to fraud
and hysteria, and the unlearned to "magnetism,"
"psychic force," or the Devil. For whilst men of
science, preoccupied for the most part with other
lines of inquiry, have kept themselves aloof, the
vacant ground was naturally occupied by the ignor-
ant and credulous, and by those who looked to win a
harvest from ignorance and credulity. It is not of
course implied that all persons who interested them-
selves in such matters came under one or other of
these categories. There were many sensible men
and women amongst them, but they lacked for the
most part the special training necessary for such
inquiries, or they failed through want of co-operation

4 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

and support. No serious and organised attempt at
investigation was made until, in 1882, the Society for
Psychical Research was founded in London, under
the presidency of Professor Henry Sidgwick. He
and his colleagues were the pioneers in the research,
and their example has been widely followed. Two
years later an American society under the same title
(now a flourishing branch of the English society) was
founded in Boston ; and there are at the present time
societies with similar objects at Berlin, Munich,
Stockholm, and elsewhere. Moreover, the Socidte de
Psychologic Physiologique, which was founded in
Paris, under the presidency of M. Charcot, in 1885, has
devoted much attention to some forms of telepathy.

But the forces of superstition and charlatanry, to
which this vast territory has been ceded for so long,
have bequeathed an unfortunate legacy to those who
would now colonise.it in the name of Science; and
the preliminary difficulties of the undertaking can
perhaps most effectually be met by a frank recognition
of that fact. On the one hand, a large number of
thinking men have been repelled, and still feel repul-
sion, from a subject whose record is so unsavoury.
On the other hand, the appetite for the marvellous
which has been so long unchecked is not easily re-
strained. The old habits of inaccuracy, of magnifying
the proportions of things, of confusing surmises with
facts, cannot be eradicated without long and careful
discipline. To one writer, indeed, those dangers
seemed so serious that he solemnly warned the Society
for Psychical Research, at the outset of its career,
against the risk of stimulating into disastrous activity
inborn tendencies to superstition, by even the sem-
blance of an inquiry into these matters. Without
going to such lengths, it may be conceded to the critic
that even with those who endeavour to apply scientific
methods to the investigation the mental attitude is
liable to be warped by the environment, and that
here, as elsewhere, evil communications may corrupt

SPECIAL GROUNDS OF CAUTION. 5

As regards the actual investigators this difficulty is
growing less serious, as more men who have received
their training in other branches of science are attracted
to the inquiry, and as the affinities of the subject to
long-recognised departments of knowledge become
daily more apparent. In another direction, however,
this mental attitude presents still a more or less for-
midable obstacle. Many of the observations on which
students of the subject are compelled to rely are
derived from persons who have had no training in
such habits of accuracy as are required in scientific
research. When accounts of the ornithorhynchus
first reached this country naturalists laughed at the
traveller's tale of a beast with the tail of a beaver and
the bill and webbed feet of a duck. In the same way
scientific men for long refused to admit th$ existence of
aerolites, as they now decline to credit the reports of
a Sea Serpent of colossal proportions. In all these
cases, so long as the alleged facts rest solely on the
testimony of men untrained in habits of close observ-
ation and accurate reporting, a suspension of judg-
ment seems to be justified. And if these considerations
are valid in ordinary cases, a much higher degree of
caution may be reasonably demanded of investigators
who leave the neutral ground of the physical sciences
to enter upon a field in which the emotions and
sympathies are most keenly engaged, and in which
the incidents narrated may have served to afford
support to the dearest hopes and sanction to the
deepest convictions of the narrator. So insidious, in
such a case, is the work of the imagination, so
untrustworthy is the memory, so various are the
sources of error in human testimony, that it may be
doubted whether we should be justified in attaching
weight to the phenomena of telepathic hallucination
and clairvoyance, to which a large part of this book is
devoted, if the alleged observations were incapable of
experimental verification. Certainly in such a case,
though the recipient of an experience of this kind

6 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

might cherish a private conviction of its significance,
it would hardly be possible for such a view to win
general assent.

In fact, however, the clue to the interpretation of
the more striking phenomena, in the case of which,
since they occur for the most part spontaneously,
direct experiment or even methodical and continuous
observation are rarely possible, is furnished by actual
experiment on a smaller scale and with mental affec-
tions of a less unusual kind. The thesis which these
pages are designed to illustrate and support is briefly:
that communication is possible between mind and mind
otherwise than through the known channels of the senses.
Proof of the existence of such communication, pro-
visionally called Thought Transference or Telepathy
(from /?2 = at a distance, and pathos feel ing), will
be found in a considerable mass of experiments
conducted during the last twelve years by various
observers in different European countries and in
America. Before proceeding, in the course of the
next four chapters, to examine this part of the evidence
in detail, it will be well to consider its various defects
and sources of error defects common in some degree
to all experiments of which living beings are the sub-
ject, and sources of error for the most part peculiar to
this and kindred inquiries. The word experiment in
this connection usually, and rightly, suggests the most
perfect form of experiment, that in which all the
conditions are known, and in which the results can
be predicted both quantitatively and qualitatively.
If, for instance, we add a certain quantity of nitric
acid under given conditions to a certain quantity of
benzine, we know that there will result a certain
quantity of a third substance which is unlike either of
its constituents in taste, smell, and physical properties.
Or if we burn a given quantity of coal in a particular
engine, we can predict, within narrow limits of error,
the total amount of energy which will be evolved.
That we cannot in the second instance predict with

SPECIAL GROUNDS OF CAUTION. 7

absolute accuracy the amount of energy produced is
simply due to the difficulty of measuring with pre-
cision all the factors in the case. But when we leave
the problems of chemistry and physics and approach
the problems of biology, the difficulties increase a
hundredfold. Here not only are we unable to measure
the various factors, we cannot even name them. No
skill or forethought would have enabled an observer,
from however patient a study of parentage and en-
vironment, to have predicted the appearance, say, of
Emanuel Swedenborg or Michael Faraday. Of the
seven children of John Lamb and his wife it might
have seemed easier to conjecture that the majority
would not survive childhood, and that one would
become insane, than that another should take his
place amongst those whose writings the world would
not willingly let die. And even where, as in most
biological researches, the results drawn from observ-
ation can be to some extent checked and controlled
by direct experiment, generations may elapse
before the balance of probabilities on one side
or the other becomes so great as to lead to unanimity
amongst the inquirers. One of the most interest-
ing, and certainly not the least important, of the
questions now occupying biologists, is that of the
transmission to the offspring of characters acquired in
the lifetime of the individual. Observations have been
accumulated on the subject since before the days of
Lamarck ; and these observations, interpreted and
confirmed by experiment, have been adduced and are
still held by many as evidence that such transmission
occurs. On the other hand, Weismann and his
followers contend that no such inference can legiti-
mately be drawn from the observations and experi-
ments quoted, and that the occurrence of such
transmission is irreconcilable with what is known of
the growth and development of the germ. And for
all that has been said and written the opinion of com-
petent biologists is still divided upon the question.

8 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

But in many biological problems the conditions
are much simpler, and the questions at issue can
more readily be brought to the test of experiment.
Yet even so various unknown factors are included,
and the results obtained are correspondingly difficult
of interpretation. No question affects us more nearly
than the part played by the several kinds of food in
repairing the daily waste of the human body. Sta-
tistics and analyses have been collected of workhouse,
prison, and military dietaries ; innumerable experi-
ments have been conducted on fasting men and hyper-
trophied dogs and rabbits ; and yet the precise function
of nitrogenous substances in nutrition is still un-
determined. Again, the import of the experiments
made during the last few decades by Goltz, Hitzig,
Ferrier, Horsley, and others on the functions of various
areas of the brain substance, and the exact nature
and degree of localisation which those experiments
imply, are still matter of debate amongst the physi-
ologists concerned.

To take yet another instance, and one which has a
more intimate bearing upon the experiments to be
discussed. Some years ago Dr. Charlton Bastian
claimed to have proved experimentally the fact of
abiogenesis, or the generation of living organisms
from non-living matter. He had placed various
organic infusions in glass tubes, which were heated
to the boiling point and then hermetically sealed.
When the tubes were, after a certain interval, unsealed,
the contained liquid was found in some cases to be
swarming with bacteria. Believing that these micro-
organisms and their germs were invariably destroyed
by the heat of boiling water, Dr. Bastian saw no other
conclusion than that the bacteria were formed directly
from the infusion. His conclusions were not accepted
by the scientific world. But they were rejected, not
because the fact of abiogenesis was regarded as in
itself improbable, nor yet because Dr. Bastian was
unable to indicate by what steps or processes the

SPECIAL GROUNDS OF CAUTION. 9

transformation of an infusion of hay into living
organisms of definite and relatively complex structure
could be conceived to take place, but because
Pasteur, Tyndall, and others showed that the germs
of some of these micro-organisms are capable of
sustaining for some minutes the heat of boiling
water ; and further, that when elaborate precautions
were taken, by filtering and otherwise purifying the
air, tubes containing similar infusions would remain
sterile for an indefinite period.

The conclusion that under certain conditions
thought-transference may occur rests upon reason-
ing similar to that by which Dr. Bastian sought to
establish a theory of abiogenesis. Neither the organs
by which nor the medium through which the com-
munication is made can be indicated ; nor can we
even, with a few trifling exceptions, point to the
conditions which favour such communication. But
ignorance on these points, though a defect, is not a
defect which in the present state of experimental
psychology can be held seriously to weaken the
evidence, much less to invalidate the conclusion.
That conclusion rests on the elimination of all other
possible causes for the effect produced. But at this
point the analogy between the two researches fails.
Dr. Bastian's conjecture was based on a short series
of experiments conducted by a single experimenter
under one uniform set of conditions. At the first
breath of criticism the whole fabric collapsed. The
experiments here recorded represent the work of
many observers in many countries, carried on with
different subjects under a great variety of conditions.
The results have been before the world for about
twelve years, and during that period have been
subjected to much adverse and some instructive
criticism. But no alternative explanation which has
yet been suggested has attained even a momentary
plausibility.

Whether the elimination of all other possible causes

10 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

is indeed complete, or whether, as in Dr. Bastian's
case, there may yet lurk in these experiments some
hitherto unsuspected source of error, the reader will
have the opportunity of judging for himself. To
assist him in forming a judgment some of the main
disturbing causes will be briefly indicated.

(i) Fraud. In nearly all the experiments referred
to in this book the agent was himself concerned in
the inquiry as a matter of scientific interest. But it
necessarily happens on occasion that neither agent nor
percipient are by education and position absolutely
removed from suspicion of trickery in a matter
where trickery might to imperfectly educated persons
appear almost venial. If any such cases have been
admitted, it is because the precautions taken appear
to Ms to have been adequate. At the same time, the
investigators of the Society for Psychical Research
have come across some instances of fraud in cases
where they had grounds for assuming good faith, and
it may be useful, therefore, to illustrate some of the
less obvious methods of acquiring intelligence fraudu-
lently. The conditions of the experiment should of
course, as far as possible, preclude, even where there
is no ground for suspecting fraud, communication
between the percipient and the agent, or any one else
knowing the idea which it is sought to transfer.

In the autumn of 1888 some experiments were
conducted with a person named D., whose antecedents
afforded, it was thought, justification for the belief that
the claims which he put forward were genuine. D.
acted as agent, the percipient being a subject of his
own, a young woman called Miss N., who was appar-
ently in a light hypnotic sleep during the experiment.
It was soon discovered that the results were obtained
by means of a code formed from a combination of
Miss N.'s breathing with slight noises a cough or the
creak of a boot made by D. himself. I have seen a
somewhat similar code employed in Prince's Hall,
Piccadilly, where the conjurer stood in the middle of

SPECIAL GROUNDS OF CAUTION. II

the hall with a coin or other object in his hand,
a description of which he communicated to his
confederate on the platform by means of a series of
breathings, deep enough visibly to move his dress-
coat up and down on the surface of his white collar,
punctuated by slight movements of head or hand.
The novel feature in the first case, however, was that
the percipient herself furnished the groundwork of
the code, the punctuation alone being given by the
conjurer. A still more elaborate form of collusion is
described at length by Bonjean. 1 In this case the
subject, a young woman named Lully, appears to have
read the words to be conveyed after the fashion of a
deaf mute, by the motion of the lips of the showman.
Lully was apparently in a hypnotic trance, with the
eyes fast closed. Another form of fraud, since it does
not require the aid of a confederate, is perhaps worthy
of note. Some years ago a young Australian came
to this country with a reputation for "genuine thought-
reading," based on the successful mystification of some
members of a certain Colonial Legislature. The
writer had a few experiments with this person, in
which several small objects a knife, a glass bottle,
etc. placed in the full light of a shaded lamp, were
correctly named. The object was in each case placed
behind the back of the " Thought-reader," who looked
intently at the writer's eyes, which were in turn fixed
upon the brightly illuminated object. Experiments
made under more usual conditions, not dictated by
the " Thought-reader," completely failed ; and there
can be little doubt that the initial successes- were due
to the "Thought-reader" seeing the image of the
object reflected in the agent's cornea.

(2) Hypercesthesia. But, after all, it is rarely neces-
sary to take special precautions against fraud, for
there are dangers to be guarded against of a more
subtle kind. There are various, and as yet imperfectly

1 UHypnotisme ct la suggestion mcntale. Germer Bailli&re et Cie.
Paris, pp. 261-316.

12 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

known methods of communication by which indica-
tions may be unconsciously given and as uncon-
sciously received. Thus, to take the last instance, it
is pretty certain that cornea-reading does not always
imply fraud, and that hints may be gained in all good
faith from any reflecting surface in the neighbour-
hood of the experimenter ; or the movements of
lips, larynx, and even hands and limbs may betray
the secret to eye or ear. We know little of the limits
of our sensory powers even in normal life ; and we
do know that in certain subconscious states auto-
matic, hypnotic, somnambulic these limits may be
greatly exceeded, and that indications so subtle as
frequently to escape the vigilance of trained observers
may be seized and interpreted by the hypnotic or
automatic subject. It is clear, therefore, that results
which it is possible to attribute to deliberate fraud
stand almost necessarily self-condemned. For if the
precautions taken by the investigators left such an
explanation open, much more were those precautions
insufficient to guard against the subtler modes of
communication referred to. It is not the friend whom
we know whose eyes must be closed and his ears
muffled, but the " Mr. Hyde," whose lurking presence
In each of us we are only now beginning to suspect.

There is a case recorded by M. Bergson, 1 in which
a hypnotised boy is said to have been able to state
correctly the number of the page in a book held by
the observer, by reading the corneal image of the
figures. The actual figures were three millimetres
high, and their corneal image is calculated by M.
Bergson to have been o.i mm., or about ^^ of an inch
in height ! In some other experiments conducted by
M. Bergson with the same subject the acuteness of
vision is said to have exceeded even this limit. In
another case, recorded by Dr. Sauvaire, 2 a hypnotised

1 Revue Philosophique, Nov. 1887, quoted in Proceedings of the
Soc. Psych. Research, vol. iv. p. 532.
8 Revue Philosophique^ March 1887.

SPECIAL GROUNDS OF CAUTION. 13

subject was able to recognise the King of Clubs, face
downwards, in two different packs of cards. In the
first of these cases the results, which could not have
been, attained by the senses under normal conditions,
must apparently be attributed to hyperaesthesia.
Instances, especially of auditory hyperaesthesia, are of
course quite familiar to those who have studied the
phenomena of hypnotism. In Dr. Sauvaire's case,
however, the power of distinguishing the cards by
touch may have been the result of practice. Mrs.
Verrall records {Proceedings Soc. Psych. Research,
vol. viii. p. 480) that she acquired such a power by
means of "a longish series of experiments"; and Mr.
Hudson, in Idle Days in Patagonia^ tells of a gambler
who by careful training had developed the same
faculty in a very high degree.

It seems probable in the cases described by M.
Bergson and Dr. Sauvaire, and possible also in the
case of Mr. D.'s subject, that there was no intentional
deception, and that the hypnotised person was not
himself aware of the means by which his knowledge
was attained. 1 The same remark probably applies to
the following case, in which, though the conditions of
vision were certainly unusual, it seems not clear
whether the degree of success attained should be
attributed to abnormal sensibility of the eyes, or to
the facility acquired by long practice. In a series of
experiments at which the writer assisted, in 1884, an
illiterate youth named Dick was hypnotised, a penny
was placed over each eye, and the eyes and surround-
ing features were elaborately bandaged with strips of
sticking-plaster ; a handkerchief being bound over all.
Under these conditions Dick named correctly objects
held in front of him, even at a considerable distance,
a little above the level of his eyes. Normal vision
appeared to be impossible. Mr. R. Hodgson, how-

1 Mrs. Verrall states that after long practice she " lost all conscious-
ness of the means which enabled her to guess, and saw pictures of the
cards."

14 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

ever, repeated the experiment upon himself, and
found after several trials that he also could see
objects, though fitfully and imperfectly, under the
same conditions, the channel of vision being a small
chink in the sticking-plaster on the line where it was
fastened to the brow.

(3) Muscle-reading. From this last case we may
pass to the illustrations of "thought-reading" given
by professional conjurers and others, where it seems
clear that the skill exhibited in the interpretation of
unconscious movements and gestures is due rather
to long practice and careful observation than to any
abnormal extension of faculty. It hardly needs
saying that experiments in which contact is per-
mitted between the agent and percipient can rarely
be regarded as having evidential value. It has been
demonstrated again and again that with the fullest
intention of keeping the secret to themselves, most
" agents " in such circumstances are practically certain
to betray it to the professional thought-reader by
unconscious movements of some kind. Indeed, it is
difficult to place any limit to the degree of sus-
ceptibility to slight muscular impressions which may
be attained. A careful experimenter has assured the
writer that when acting as percipient in some experi-
ments with diagrams the slight movements of the
agent's hand resting upon her head gave her in one
case a clue to the figure thought of. And Mr. Stuart
Cumberland has exhibited feats still more marvellous
before kings and commoners. Nor is it necessary,
as already said, for successful muscle-reading that
there should be actual contact in all cases. The eye
or the ear can sometimes follow movements of the
lips or other parts of the body. But though we can
look for little evidence from experiments conducted
with contact, or under conditions which allow of
interpretation by gesture, etc., and their repetition in
this connection can rarely be expected to serve any
useful purpose, it seems worth pointing out that, if

SPECIAL GROUNDS OF CAUTION. 1$

telepathy is a fact, we should expect to find it oper-
ating not merely where, from the conditions of the
experiment, it must be presumed to be the sole source
of communication, but also as an auxiliary to other
more familiar modes of expression. It seems not
improbable, therefore, that some of the more startling
successes of the professional " thought-reader " and
some of the results obtained in the " willing game "
may be due to this cause.

(4) Thought - forms. There remains one other
source of error to be guarded against. An image
whether of an object, diagram, or name which is
chosen by the agent may be correctly described by
the percipient simply because their minds are set
to move in the same direction. It must be remem-
bered that, however unexpected and spontaneous
they may appear, ideas do not come by chance, but
have their origin mostly in the previous experience of
the thinker. Persons living constantly in the same
physical and intellectual environment are apt to
present a close similarity in their ideas. It would not
even be prima facie evidence of thought-transference,
for instance, if husband and wife, asked to think of a
town or of an acquaintance, should select the same
name. And investigation has shown that our
thoughts move in grooves which are determined
for us by causes more deep-seated and more general
than the accident of particular circumstances. Thus
it is found that individuals will show a preference for
certain figures or certain numbers over others ; and
that the preference for some geometrical figures tends
to be tolerably constant. The American Society for
Psychical Research 1 made some interesting observa-
tions on this point in 1888. Blank cards were
issued to a large number of persons, with the request
that the recipients would draw on the card "ten
diagrams." 501 cards were returned, and the diagrams
inscribed on them were carefully tabulated. It was
1 Proceedings of the American Soc. Psych. Research^ pp. 302 et seq.

16 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

found that of the 501 persons no less than 209 drew
circles, 174 squares, 160 equilateral triangles and
crosses, while three only drew wheels, two candle-
sticks, and one each a corkscrew, a ball, and a knife.
It was found that the simpler geometrical figures 1
occurred not only most frequently but as a general
rule early in each series of ten. It follows, therefore,
that in an experiment the success of the percipient
in reproducing a circle, a square, or a triangle raises
a much fainter presumption of thought-transference
than if the object reproduced had been a corkscrew
or a pine-apple. But so much was perhaps obvious
even without a detailed investigation. From a
similar analysis of the guesses made, it can be
shown that some percipients have decided preferences
amongst the simple numerals. And in the same way
it seems probable that others have a preference for
particular cards. An important illustration of the
working of the "number-habit" has been brought
forward by Professor E. C. Pickering of the Harvard
College Observatory, U.S.A. 2 A revision of part of
the Argelander Star-Chart had been undertaken
by several observatories, of which the Harvard Obser-
vatory was one. For the purposes of the revision the
assistant had the Argelander chart before him, whilst
the observer, who was in ignorance of the magnitude
assigned in the chart, made an independent estimate
of the magnitude of each star. If no thought-trans-
ference or other disturbing cause affected the result,
the amount of deviation of the later observations
from the earlier in each tenth of a degree of magni-
tude would be represented by a smooth curve. As a
matter of fact, it was found that the number of cases

1 No doubt the great preponderance of geometrical figures is in some
measure due to the use of the word (t diagram," which in English
would probably suggest to most persons a geometrical diagram. But
possibly the word has a different shade of meaning in American. It is
certain too that a considerable proportion of the persons who rilled in
the cards were acquainted with the object of the inquiry.

a Proc. American Soc. Psych. Research, pp. 35-43.

SPECIAL GROUNDS OF CAUTION. IJ

of complete agreement were much greater, with some
observers more than 50 per cent, greater, than they
should have been on an estimate of the probabilities.
At first sight this excess of the actual over the
theoretical numbers suggested the action of thought-
transference between the assistant and the observer.
But Professor Pickering shows, on a further analysis
of the figures, that almost the whole of the excess was
due to the preference of both the earlier and the
later observers for 5 and 10 over all other fractions of
a degree.

The practical deduction from this investigation is
that in any experiment care should be taken to
exclude, as regards the agent at any rate, the opera-
tion of any diagram or number-habit. 1 If an object
is thought of, it should if possible be chosen by lot,
and should not be an object actually present in the
room. If a card, it should be drawn from the pack
at random ; if a number, from a receptacle containing
a definite series of numbers ; if a diagram, it is pre-
ferable that it should be taken at random from a set
of previously-prepared drawings. It will be seen that
in the majority of the cases quoted in the four
succeeding chapters these precautions have been
observed.

1 It is not possible to eliminate the operation of such preferences in
the percipient. But if care be taken that the series of things to be
guessed is chosen arbitrarily, the only effect of even a decided prefer-
ence for particular cards, numbers, etc., on the part of the percipient
will be to lessen the number of coincidences due to thought-transference.

CHAPTER II.

EXPERIMENTAL TRANSFERENCE OF SIMPLE SEN-
SATIONS IN THE NORMAL STATE.

IT is somewhat remarkable that the facts of thought-
transference should only have attracted serious atten-
tion within the last two decades. With waking
percipients, indeed, such phenomena do not seem to
occur unsought with sufficient frequency, or if we
leave on one side for the moment telepathic hallu-
cinations on a sufficiently striking scale to afford
evidence of any transmission of thought or sensation
otherwise than through the familiar channels. But
the hypnotic state appears to offer peculiar facilities
for such transmission, and hypnotism, under the name
of mesmerism, has now been closely studied by
numerous observers for upwards of a century. The
earlier French observers, 1 indeed, occasionally recorded
instances of what appears to have been thought-
transference between the mesmerist and his subject.
But these facts were observed by the way, in the
search for phenomena of another kind ; and no
attempt appears to have been made to follow up the
clue by means of direct experiment. Even the
English observers of 1840 and onwards, though
familiar with what they termed "community of
sensation" between the operator and his subject,

1 See, for instance, Puyse'gur, Memoires pour servir h FtiabUssc-
ment du magnetisme, pp. 22, 29 et seq.> and Pe'te'tin, Electricitl
Animate^ p. 127, etc. (quoted by Dr. Qchorowicz, DC la Suggestion
wentale).

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. ig

appear never to have realised its possible significance.
Dr. Elliotson, for instance, describes in the Zoist (vol.
v. pp. 242-245) some experiments in which a lady,
mesmerised by himself, was able to indicate correctly
the taste of salt, cinnamon, sugar, ginger, water, and
pepper, as Dr. Elliotson placed successively these
various substances in his mouth. But he seems to have
recorded the results chiefly from curiosity, and to have
regarded them as of little scientific interest compared
with the stiffening of a limb, or the painless perform-
ance of an operation under mesmeric anaesthesia.
Dr. Esdaile (Practical Mesmerism, p. 125), Mr. C.
H. Townshend (Facts in Mesmerism, pp. 68, 72, 76,
etc., etc.), Professor Gregory (Animal Magnetism, p.
231), and other writers of that time, record similar
observations. But the subject seems to have been
crowded out, on the one hand, with the more cautious
observers, by the growing importance of hypnotism
as an anaesthetic and a curative agency, on the other
by the greater marvels of " clairvoyance " and " spirit "
communications.

It was Professor Barrett, of the Royal College of
Science, Dublin, who, in a paper read before the
British Association at Glasgow in 1 876, first isolated
the phenomenon from its somewhat dubious surround-
ings, and drew public attention to its importance. Up
to that time "community of sensation" or thought-
transference seems to have been known only as a rare
and fitful accompaniment of the hypnotic trance. But
in the course of the correspondence arising out of his
paper Professor Barrett learnt of several instances
where similar phenomena had been observed in the
waking state. The Willing game was just then
coming into fashion, and cases had been observed in
which the thing willed had been performed without
contact between the performer and the person willing,
and apparently without the possibility of any normal
means of communication between them. Later, in
the years 1881-82, a long series of experiments, in

20 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

which Professor Sidgwick, the late Professor Balfour
Stewart, the late Edmund Gurney, Mr. F. W. H.
Myers and others joined with Professor Barrett,
seemed to establish the possibility of a new mode of
communication. And these earlier results have been
confirmed by further experiments continued down to
the present time by many observers both in this
country and abroad. In the present chapter some
account will be given of experiments in the transfer-
ence of simple ideas and sensations performed with
percipients in the ordinary waking state. The next
chapter will deal with similar results obtained with
hypnotised persons. In Chapters IV. and V. results
of a more complicated or unusual character will be
described and discussed.

Transference of Tastes.

The particular form of telepathy which first attracted
attention to the whole subject, the transmission to the
percipient of impressions of taste and pain experienced
by the agent, appears to have been observed in the
normal state very rarely. One such case may be
here quoted. In the years 1883-85 Mr. Malcolm
Guthrie, J.P., of Liverpool, the then head of a large
drapery business in that city, conducted a long scries
of experiments with two of his employees, Miss E.
and Miss R. In September 1883 Mr. Guthrie, Mr.
Edmund Gurney, and Mr. Myers, indicated respec-
tively by the initials M. G., E. G., and M., had a series
of trials with these percipients in the transference of
tastes. The percipients, who were fully awake, were
blindfolded ; the packets or bottles containing the
substances experimented upon were placed beyond
the range of possible vision ; and in the case of
strongly smelling substances, either at a distance or
outside the room ; and other precautions were taken
by the agents, -by keeping the mouth closed and
turning the head away, etc., in order that the per-

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 21

cipients should not become aware by the sense of
smell of the nature of the substance experimented
with. Strict silence was of course observed. It may
be conceded that when all possible precautions are
taken, experiments with sapid substances must be
inconclusive when the agent is in the same room with
the percipient ; since nearly all such substances have
an odour, however faint. In view, however, of the ex-
treme sensibility already demonstrated (see below, pp.
23, etc.) of these particular percipients to transferred
impressions of other kinds, it seems probable that the
results in this case also were actually due to telepathy.
The alternative explanation is to attribute to persons
in the normal waking state a degree of hypcraesthesia
for which we have no exact parallel even in the records
of hypnotism. For to persons of normal susceptibility
the odour of a small quantity, e.g. of salt or alum, in
the mouth of another person at a distance of two or
three feet would certainly be quite inappreciable.

No. I. By MR. GUTIIRIE AND OTHERS.
September 3, 1883.

EXPT. TASTER. PERCIPIENT. SUBSTANCE. ANSWERS GIVEN.

1 .. M E Vinegar "A sharp and nasty taste."

2 .. M K Mustard "Mustard."

3 .. M 11 Do "Ammonia."

4 . . M E Sugar "I still taste the hot taste of

the mustard."

September 4.

6 .. E. G. &M... E Worcestershire sauce " Worcestershire sauce."

6 .. M. G K Do. "Vinegar."

7 .. E. G. &M... E Portwine " Between eau de Cologne and

beer."

8 .. M G R Do " Raspberry vinegar."

9 ,. K. G. &M... K Bitter aloes " Horrible and bitter."

10 .. M. G II Alum "A taste of inkof iron-of

vinegar. I feel it on my
lips it is as if I had been
eating alum."

11 .. M. G E Alinn (E. perceived that M. G. was

not tasting bitter aloes, as
E. G. and M. supposed,
but something different.
No distinct perception on
account of the persistence
of the bitter taste.)

22 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

EXPT. TASTER. PERCIPIENT. SUBSTANCE. ANSWERS GIVEN.

12 .. E. G. &M... E ..... Nutmeg ............. "Peppeimint no what you

put in puddings nut-
meg. "

13 .. M. G ....... R ..... Do .............. "Nutmeg."

14 .. E. G. &M... E ..... Sugar ................ Nothing perceived.

15 .. M. G ....... R ..... Do ................. Nothing perceived.

(Sugar should be tried at an
earlier stage in the series,
as, after the aloes, we
could scarcely taste it
ourselves.)
10 .. E. G. & M. .. E ..... Cayenne pepper ...... "Mustard."

17 .. M. G ....... 11 ..... Do. ...... "Cayenne pepper."

(After the cayenne we were
unable to taste anything
further that evening.)

Throughout the next series of experiments the sub-
stances were kept outside the room in which the
percipients were seated.

September 5.

18
19

.. E. G. &M...
. . M. G

E
R

Carbonate of Soda. .
Caraway seeds

, . Nothing perceived.
"It feels like meal like a

seed loaf carawayseeds."

(The substance of the seeds

seems to be perceived be-

fore their taste.)

20

. . E. G. & M. . .

E

Cloves

"Cloves."

21
22

. . E. G. & M. . .
. . M. G

E
R

Citric acid
Do

, . Nothing felt.

23

. . E. G. & M. . .

E

Liquorice

!'. "Cloves."

24

. . M. G

R

Cloves ,

"Cinnamon."

25

. . E. G. & M. . .

E

Acid jujube

, , "Pear drop."

26

.. M.G

R

Do.

"Something hard, which is

giving way acid jujube."

27
28

.. E.G. &M...
.. M.G

E
R

Candied ginger.
Do.

, . " Something sweet and hot."
, . " Almond toffy."

(M. G. took this ginger in the

dark, and was some time

before he realised that it

was ginger.)

29

.. E.G. AM...

E

Home-made Noyau

.. "Salt."

30

.. M.G

R

Do.

,. "Port wine."

(This was by far the most

strongly smelling of the
substances tried; the scent

of kernels being hard to

conceal. Yet it was named

by E. as salt.)

31

.. E. G. &M...

E

Bitter aloes

., "Bitter."

32

.. M.G

R

Do

,. Nothing felt.

(Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. ii. pp. 3, 4.)

Further experiments in this direction are much to
be desired. But apart from the difficulty above re-
ferred to, experiments of the kind are liable to be

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 23

tedious and inconclusive because of the inability of
most persons to discriminate accurately between one
taste and another, when the guidance of all other
senses is lacking. To conduct such experiments to a
successful issue, it would probably be necessary that
the percipients should have some preliminary training
to enable them to distinguish by taste alone between
various salts and pharmaceutical preparations.

Transference of Pains.

Experiments in the transference of pains arejjlot at-
tended with the same difficulties, nor open to the same
evidential objections ; and some interesting trials of
this kind with one of the same percipients, Miss R.,
met with a fair amount of success. The experiments
were carried on at intervals, interspersed with experi-
ments of other kinds, by Mr. Guthrie at Liverpool
during nine months in 1884 and 1885. The per-
cipient on each occasion was blindfolded and seated
with her back towards the rest of the party, who each
pinched or otherwise injured themselves in the same
part of the body at the same time. The agents in
these experiments the whole series of which is here
recorded were three or more of the following : Mr.
Guthrie, Professor Herdman, Dr. Hicks, Dr. Hyla
Greves, Mr, R. C Johnson, F.R.A.S., Mr. Birchall,
Miss Redmond, and on one occasion another lady.
The results are given in the. following table :

No. 2. By MR. GUTHRIE AND OTHERS.

I. Back of left hand pricked. Rightly localised.

2. Lobe of left ear pricked. Rightly localised.

3. Left wrist pricked. "Is it in the left hand?" pointing to

the back near the little finger.
4. Third finger of left hand tightly bound round with wire.

A lower joint of that finger was guessed.
5. Left wrist scratched with pins. " Is it in the left wrist, like

being scratched ? "
6. Left ankle pricked. Rightly localised

24 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

7. Spot behind left ear pricked. No result.
8. Right knee pricked. Rightly localised.
9. Right shoulder pricked. Rightly localised.

10. Hands burned over gas. " Like a pulling pain . . . then
tingling, like cold and hot alternately," localised by
gesture only.

ii. End of tongue bitten. " Is it the lip or the tongue ?"

12. Palm of left hand pricked. " Is it a tingling pain in the
left hand here ? " placing her finger on the palm of
the left hand.

13. Back of neck pricked. " Is it a pricking of the neck ?"

14. Front of left arm above elbow pricked. Rightly localised.

15. Spot just above left ankle pricked. Rightly localised.

1 6. Spot just above right wrist pricked. " I am not quite sure,
%>ut I feel a pain in the right arm, from the thumb up-
wards to above the wrist."

17. Inside of left ankle pricked. Outside of left ankle guessed.

1 8. Spot beneath right collar-bone pricked. The exactly cor-
responding spot on the left side guessed.

19. Back hair pulled. No result.

20. Inside of right wrist pricked. Right foot guessed.

(Proc. S.P.R.) vol. iii. pp. 424-452.)

Transference of Sounds.

It is noteworthy that there is little experimental
evidence for the transmission of an auditory impres-
sion. Occasionally, in trials with names and cards
the nature of the mistakes made has seemed to in-
dicate audition, as when, e.g., three is given for Queen
or ace for eight. But obviously a long series of ex-
periments and a long series of mistakes would be
necessary to afford material for any conclusion.
Sometimes a percipient has stated that he heard
the name of the thing thought of; as, for instance, in
a case recorded in Chapter V., where the percipient
"heard" the word gloves before "seeing" a vision of
them. But such cases appear to be rare. Experi-
ments with a view to test the transmission of actual
sounds jould of course only be carried out under
special conditions, of which one would be the separa-
tion of the agent from the percipient by a considerable

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 2j

intervening space and this condition is, of itself,
found to interfere with success. Some evidence,
indeed, of a quasi-experimental character for the
transference of musical sounds at a distance will be
given in a later chapter (Chapter V., No. 33 ) Ex-
periments with imagined sounds appear to have been
rarely tried, or at least, successful results have rarely
been recorded. 1 Occasionally indeed experimenters
have put on record that in thinking of an object they
have mentally repeated the name of the object as well
as pictured the object itself, and there are a few cases
where the general idea of the object thought of
appears to have reached the percipient before the
outlines of the form, which may possibly be ex-
plained as due to the reception of an auditory before
a visual impression. 2

This lack of evidence for auditory transmission is
no doubt largely due to a desire on the part of
experimenters in the first instance to make the proof
of actual thought-transference as complete as possible.
Experiments with sounds would impose a greater
strain upon the agents, since in most cases they must
be imagined sounds. Moreover, in such experiments
it would be at once more difficult to estimate with
precision degrees of success, and to preserve a per-
manent record of the result ; and finally, the subject
thought of would be more easily communicated either
fraudulently, by a code, or by unconscious indications
on the part of the agent In this connection it is
possibly significant that whilst in morbid conditions
auditory hallucinations are much commoner than
visual, the proportion appears to be reversed with

1 Some trials were made by Mr. Guthrie with imagined tunes. But
they were in no instance successful without contact ; and as obviously
the chances of unconscious indications being given, in any case con-
siderable where tunes are in question, are much increased by contact,
we should not be justified in regarding successful results, under such
conditions, as even ptima facie due to Thought-transference. (See
Proc. S.P.A'., vol. iii. pp. 426, 447, 448.)

8 See below, Chapter III. Mrs. Sidgwick's experiments.

26 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

telepathic hallucinations. It seems probable that the
apparent infrequency of auditory transmission may
be in part due to the fact that in the modern world
the sense of vision is for educated persons the habitual
channel for precise or important information. To the
Greek in the time of Socrates no doubt the ear was
the main avenue for all knowledge; it was the ear that
received not merely the current talk of the market-
place and the gymnasium, but the oratory of the
law-court, the literature of the stage, and the philo-
sophy of the Schools. But for modern civilised
societies the newspaper and the libraries have placed
the eye in a position of unquestioned pre-eminence.
It seems likely therefore, apart from all defects in
such evidence, that the agent would find a greater
difficulty, as a rule, in calling up a vivid representation
of a sound than of a vision ; and that the percipient
would experience a corresponding difference in the
reception and discrimination of the two classes of
impressions.

Transference of Ideas not definitely classed.
Experiments by PROFESSOR RlCHET and others.

In the following cases, where the exact nature of
the impression received was not apparently consciously
classified by the percipient, it may be presumed to
have been either of a visual or an auditory nature.
M. Charles Richet (Revue Philosophique, Dec. 1884,
" La suggestion mentale et le calcul des probability ")
conducted a series of experiments in guessing the
suits of cards drawn at random from a pack. 2927
trials were made : ten persons besides M. Richet
himself who acted sometimes as agent and some-
times as percipient taking part in the experiments.
In the 2927 trials the suit was correctly named 789
times, the most probable number of correct guesses
being 732. A similar series of trials was conducted,

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 2/

on Edmund Gurney's initiative, by some members
of the S.P.R. and others. There were 17 series,
containing 17,653 trials, and 4760 successes; the
theoretically probable number, on the assumption
that the results were due to chance, being 4413.
The probability for some cause other than chance de-
duced from this result is .999,999,98, which represents
perhaps a higher degree of probability than the in-
habitants of this hemisphere are justified in attaching
to the belief that the ensuing night will be followed
by another day. 1 In a similar series of experiments
carried out under the direction of the American S.P.R.
the proportion of successes was little higher than the
theoretically probable number. 2 But in the absence
of details as to the conditions under which the ex-
periments were made, no unfavourable inference can
fairly be drawn from these results. At any rate some
very remarkable results were obtained later, in a
series of trials made on the lines laid down by the
committee of the American Society. The agent in
this case was Mrs. J F. Brown, the percipient Nellie
Gallagher, " a domestic lately come from the county
of Northumberland, in New Brunswick." The ex-
periments appear to have been carried out with great
care, and the results are recorded and analysed at
length (Proc. Am. S.P.R., pp. 322-349). 3000 trials
were made in guessing the numbers from o to 9 or
from I to 10 inclusive. The order of the digits in
each set of 100 trials was determined by drawing lots.
The agent sat at one side of a table, the percipient at
the other side. At first the percipient sat facing the

1 The calculation is by Professor F. Y. Edge worth. (See Proc.
S.P.R., vol. iii. p. 190.) Of course the statement in the text must not
be taken as indicating the belief of Mr. Edgeworth or the writer or any
one else that the above figures demonstrate Thought-transference as the
cause of the results attained. The results may conceivably have been
due to some error of observation or of reporting. But the figures are
sufficient to prove, what is here claimed for them, that some cause
must be sought for the results other than chance.

8 Proc. American S.P.R. 9 pp. 17 et seq.

28 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

agent, but after about looo trials had been made her
back was turned to the table and this position was
continued to the end. The paper containing the
numbers to be guessed was placed in the agent's lap,
out of sight of the percipient. There was no mirror
in the room. In the result the digits were correctly
named 584 times, or nearly twice the probable num-
ber, 300. The proportion of the successes steadily
increased, from 175 in the first batch of IOOO trials, to
190 in the second, and 219 in the third batch.

No. 3. By DR. OCHOROWICZ.

In the following set of experiments, made by Dr.
Ochorowicz, ex-Professor of Psychology and Natural
Philosophy at the University of Lemberg, described
in his book La Suggestion mentale (pp. 69, 75, 76),
there are not sufficient indications in most cases to
enable a judgment to be formed as to the special
form of sense-impression made on the percipient's
mind. The percipient was a Madame D., 70 years
of age. She had been shown to be amenable to
hypnotism, but during these experiments she was in
a normal condition. She is described as being of
strong constitution and in good health ; intelligent
above the average, well read, and accustomed to
literary work. The first experiments with Madame
D. are not quoted here, not having been conducted,
as Dr. Ochorowicz explains, under strict conditions.
The objects thought of had been selected by the
agent, instead of being taken haphazard, and the
choice had frequently been directly suggested by his
surroundings. It seemed possible, therefore, to ex-
plain the results as due to an unconscious association
of ideas common to agent and percipient. Dr.
Ochorowicz, however, has shown by his careful
analysis of the experiments recorded in the earlier
chapters of his book that he is fully aware of the
risk of error from this and other causes, and in the

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE.

series of the 2nd May and the following days he tells
us that adequate precautions were taken.

An Object.

Portrait ... of a man ... a

bust.

Something round.
Something made of lead . . .

of bronze ... it is iron.

36. A bust of M. N.

37. A fan.

38. A key.

39. A hand holding a ring.

40. Acid.

41. A square.

42. A circle.

43- M.
44. D.

45- J-

46. B.

47- O.
48. Jan.

Something shining, a diamond
... a ring.

A Taste.
| Sweet.

A Diagram.

I Something irregular.
I A triangle ... a circle.

A Letter.

M.
D.

A, X, R, B.

W, A ; no, it is an O.

J ... (go on !) Jan.

Third Series, May 6th, 1885. Twenty-five experiments were
made, of which, unfortunately, I have kept no record, except of
the three following, which impressed me most. (The subject
had her back to us, held the pencil and wrote whatever came
into her head. We touched her back lightly, keeping our eyes
fixed on the letters we had written.)

49. Brabant.

50. Paris.

51. Telephone.

Bra ... (I made a mental
effort to help the subject,
without speaking.)

Brabant.

P . . . aris.

T . . . elephone.

Fourth Series^ May 8th. Same conditions.

52. Z. L, P, K, J.

53. B. B.

54. T. S, T, F.

55. N. M, N.

56. P. - R, Z, A.
57- Y. V, Y.

30 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Fourth Series continued.

58. E.

59. Gustave.

60. Duch.

61. Ba.

62. No.

E.

F, J, Gabriel.

E, O.
B,A.

F, K, O.

A Number.

63. 44. I 6, 8, 12.

64. 2. I 7, 5 9-

(I told my assistant to imagine the look of the number when
written, and not its sound.)

65- 3.

66. 7.

67. 8.

8,3-

7-

8 ; no, o, 6, 9.

Then followed thirteen trials with fantastic figures,
details of which Dr. Ochorowicz does not record.
He tells us, however, that only five of the representa-
tions presented even a general resemblance to the
originals.

It is to be observed that in this series of experi-
ments contact was not completely excluded in all the
trials. But if Dr. Ochorowicz's memory may be
relied upon for the statement that the agent looked
at the original letters and diagrams, and not at the
percipients attempts at reproducing them, the hypo-
thesis of involuntary muscular guidance must be
severely strained to account for the results. At any
rate, in the three remaining trials in this series it
seems clear that muscle-reading is inadequate as an
explanation.

A person thought of.
Subject.

68. The percipient.

69. M. D .

Answer.

M. O ; no, it's myself.

M. D .

70. We pictured to ourselves
a crescent moon. M.

P on a background

of clouds, I in a clear
dark blue sky.

An Image.

I see passing clouds ... a
light ... (in a satisfied
tone) it is the moon.

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 31

Transference of Visual Images.
No. 4. By DR. BLAIR THAW.

The experiments which follow were made by Dr.
Blair Thaw, M.D., of New York. The series quoted,
which took place on the 28th of April 1892, com-
prises all the trials in which Dr. Thaw was himself
the percipient. Dr. Thaw had his eyes blindfolded
and his ears muffled, and the agent, Mrs. Thaw, and
Mr. M. H. Wyatt, who was present but took no part
in the agency, kept silent, except when it was neces-
sary to state whether an object, card, number, or
colour was to be guessed. The objects were in all
cases actually looked at by the agent, the "colour"
being a coloured disc, and the numbers being printed
on separate cards. 1

ist Object. SILK PINCUSHION, in form of Orange-Red Apple,
quite round. Percipient : A Disc. When asked what colour,
said, Red or Orange. When asked what object, named
Pincushion.

2nd Object. A SHORT LEAD PENCIL, nearly covered by the
nickel cover. Never seen by percipient. Percipient : Some-
thing white or light. A card. I thought of Mr. Wyatfs silver
pencil.

yd Object. A DARK VIOLET in Mr. Wyatt's button-hole,
but not known to be in the house by percipient. Percipient :
Something dark. Not very big. Longish. Narrow. Soft.
It carit be a cigarette because it is dark brown. A dirty colour.
Asked about smell, said : Not strong, but what you might call
pungent; a clean smell.

Percipient had not noticed smell before, though sitting by
Mr. Wyatt some time, but when afterwards told of the violet
knew that this was the odour noticed in experiment.

Asked to spell name, percipient said : Phrygian, Phrigid, or
first letter V if not Ph.

4/7* Object. WATCH, dull silver with filigree. Percipient:
Yellow or dirty ivory. Not very big. Like carving on it.
Watch is opened by agent, and percipient is asked what was
done. Percipient says : You opened it. It is shaped like a

1 See Dr. Thaw's paper, Proc. Soc. Psych. Research, vol. viii. pp.
422 et stq.

32 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

butterfly. Percipient held finger and thumb of each hand
making figure much like that of opened watch. Percipient
asked to spell it, said : I get r-i-n-g ivith a W at first*

PLAYING CARDS.

KING SPADES. Spades. Spot in middle and spots outside.
7 Spades, p Spades.

4 CLUBS. 4 Clubs.

5 SPADES. 5 Diamonds.

NUMBERS OUT OF NINE DIGITS.

4. Percipient said : // stands up straight. 4.
6. Percipient said: Those two are too much alike y only a
little gap in one of them. It is either j or 6.

3- 3-

i. Percipient said : Cover up that upper part if it is the I.
It is either 7 or i.

2. p, 8.

[From acting so much as agent in previous trials, I knew the
shapes of these numbers printed on cardboard, and as agent
found the 5 and 6 too much alike. After looking hard at one of
them I can hardly tell the difference, and always cover the
upper projection of the i because it is so much like a 7.

The numbers were printed on separate pieces of cardboard,
and there were about a hundred in the box, being made for
some game.]

COLOURS, CHOSEN AT RANDOM.

Chosen. 1st Guess. 2nd Guess.

BRIGHT RED ... Bright Red.

LIGHT GREEN ... Light Green.

YELLOW Dark Blue Yellow.

BRIGHT YELLOW ... Bright Yellow.

DARK RED ... Blue Dark Red.

DARK BLUE ... Orange Dark Blue.

ORANGE ... ... Green ... ... Heliotrope.

The percipient himself told the agents to change character of
object after each actual failure, thus getting new sensations.

Percipient was told to go into next room and get something.

ist Object. SILVER INKSTAND chosen. Percipient says.
/ think of something^ but it is too bright and easy. It is the
silver inkstand.

Percipient told to get something in next room.
( 2nd Object. A GLASS CANDLESTICK. Percipient went to
right corner of the room and to the cabinet with the object on
it, but could not distinguish which object.

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 33

Percipient had handkerchief off to be able to walk, but was
not followed by agents, and did not see them. Agents found
percipient standing with hands over candlestick undecided.

From the percipient's descriptions it would seem
that the impression here was of a visual nature,
though Dr. Thaw himself says, " I cannot describe
my sensation as a visualisation of any kind. It
seemed rather to be by some wholly subjective pro-
cess that I knew what the agents were looking at."
It is not always, however, an easy task to analyse
one's own sensations ; and, on the whole, it seems
more probable that there was visualisation, but of a
very faint and ideal kind.

No. 5. By MR. MALCOLM GUTHRIE.

Reference has already been made to the long series
of experiments carried on during the years 1883-85
by Mr. Malcolm Guthrie of Liverpool. During a
great part of the series he was assisted by Mr. James
Birchall, Hon. Sec. of the Liverpool Literary and
Philosophical Society. Professor Oliver Lodge,
Edmund Gurney, Professor Herdman, and others
co-operated from time to time. Throughout there
were two percipients only, Miss R. and Miss E. The
experiments were conducted and the results recorded
with great care and thoroughness ; and the whole
series, in its length, its variety, and its completeness,
forms perhaps the most important single contribution
to the records of experimental thought-transference
in the normal state. 1 Summing up, in July 1885, the
results attained, Mr. Guthrie writes :

"We have now a record of 713 experiments, and I recently set
myself the task of classifying them into the 4 classes of success-
ful, partially successful, misdescriptions, and failures. I en-

1 Records of these experiments will be found in the Proc. of the Soc.
Psych. Research, vol. i. pp. 263-283 ; vol. ii. pp. 1-5, 24-42, 189-200;
vol. iii. pp. 424-452.

3

34 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

deavoured to work it out in what I thought a reasonable way,
but I experienced much difficulty in assigning to its proper
column each experiment we made. This, however, is a task
which each student of the subject will be able to undertake for
himself according to his own judgment. I do not submit my
summary as a basis for calculation of probability. A few
successful experiments of a certain kind carry greater weight
with them than a large number of another kind ; for some
experiments are practically beyond the region of guesses. . . .

" The following is a summary of the work done, classified to
the best of my judgment :

FIRST SERIES.

Experiments and Conditions.

1
H

Nothing
perceived.

Complete.

Partial.

Misdescrip-
tions.

Visual Letters, figures, and cards

Contact -

26

2

17

4

3

Visual Letters, figures, and cards

Non-contact -

16

9

2

5

Visual Objects, colours, etc. Contact-

19

6

7

4

2

Do, do. Non-contact-

38

4

28

6

imagined visual Non-contact

18

5

8

2

3

Imagined numbers and names Contact

and Non-contact -

39

ii

12

6

10

Pains Contact

52

10

30

9

3

Tastes and smells Contact -

94

19

42

20

13

302

57

*53

53

39

Diagrams Contact -

37

7

18

6

Do. Non-contact

118

6

66

23

23

457

70

237

82

~68

" There were also 40 diagrams for experimental evenings with
strangers, in series of sixes and sevens, all misdrawn, and not
fairly to be reckoned in the above.

457 experiments under proper conditions.
70 nothing perceived.

3S;

319 wholly or partially correct ; 68 misdescriptions = 18 per
cent."

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 3$

In the second series there were 123 trials; in 15
cases no impression was received, and in 35 cases, or
32 per cent, of the remainder, an incorrect description
was given. In the third series, of 133 trials there
were 24 in which no impression was received and 40
failures: proportion of failures 37 per cent Mr.
Guthrie attributes this gradual decline in the propor-
tion of successes to the difficulty experienced by both
agents and percipients in maintaining the original
lively interest in the proceedings.

No. 6. By PROFESSOR LODGE, F.R.S.

Subjoined is a detailed description of experiments
made on two evenings in 1884, recorded by Professor
Lodge, 1 which leaves no room for doubt that the
impressions received in this instance by the percipient
were of a visual nature. The agent on the first
evening was Mr. James Birchall, who held the hand
of the percipient, Miss R. The only other person
present was Professor Lodge. The object was placed
sometimes on a wooden screen between the per-
cipient and the agent, at other times behind the
percipient, whose eyes were bandaged. The bandage,
it should be observed, was a sufficient precaution
against cornea-reading; but for other purposes no
reliance was placed upon it. It is believed that the
precautions taken were in all cases adequate to con-
ceal the object from the percipient if her eyes had
been uncovered. In the account quoted any remarks
made by the agent or Professor Lodge are entered
between brackets.

Object a blue square of silk. (Now, it's going to be a
colour; ready.) "Is it green?" (No.) "It's something be-
tween green and blue. . . . Peacock." (What shape?) She
drew a rhombus.

[N.B. It is not intended to imply that this was a success by

1 Proc. Soc. Psych. Research^ vol. ii. pp. 194-196.

36 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

any means, and it is to be understood that it was only to make
a start on the first experiment that so much help was given as
is involved in saying "it's a colour." When they are simply
told " it's an object," or, what is much the same, when nothing
is said at all, the field for guessing is practically infinite. When
no remark at starting is recorded none was made, except such
an one as " Now we are ready," by myself.]

Next object a key on a black ground. (It's an object.) In
a few seconds she said, " It's bright. ... It looks like a key."
Told to draw it, she drew it just inverted.

Next object three gold studs in morocco case. " Is it yellow ?
. . . Something gold. . . . Something round. ... A locket or
a watch perhaps." (Do you see more than one round ?) " Yes,
there seem to be more than one. . . Are there three rounds ?
. . . Three rings ?" (What do they seem to be set in ?) " Some-
thing bright like beads." [Evidently not understanding or
attending to the question.] Told to unblindfold herself and
draw, she drew the three rounds in a row quite correctly, and
then sketched round them absently the outline of the case,
which seemed therefore to have been apparent to her though
she had not consciously attended to it. It was an interesting
and striking experiment.

Next object a pair of scissors standing partly open with their
points down. "Is it a bright object? . . . Something long-
ways [indicating verticality]. ... A pair of scissors standing up.
... A little bit open." Time, about a minute altogether. She
then drew her impression, and it was correct in every particular.
The object in this experiment was on a settee behind her, but
its position had to be pointed out to her when, after the experi-
ment, she wanted to see it.

Next object a drawing of a right-angled triangle on its side.
(It's a drawing.) She drew an isosceles triangle on its side.

Next a circle with a cord across it. She drew two detached
ovals, one with a cutting line across it.

Next a drawing of a Union Jack pattern. As usual in
drawing experiments, Miss R. remained silent for perhaps a
minute ; then she said, " Now I am ready." I hid
the object ; she took off the handkerchief, and
proceeded to draw on paper placed ready in front
of her. She this time drew all the lines of the
figure except the horizontal middle one. She was
obviously much tempted to draw this, and, indeed,
began it two or three times faintly, but ultimately
said, " No, I'm not sure," and stopped.
REPRODUCTION. [N.B. The actual drawings made in all the
experiments are preserved intact by Mr. Guthrie.]

[END OF SITTING.]

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATJfi. 3/

Experiments with Miss R. Continued.

I will now describe an experiment indicating that one agent
may be better than another.

Object the Three of Hearts. Miss E. and Mr. Birchall both
present as agents, but Mr. Birchall holding percipient's hands
at first. " Is it a black cross ... a white ground with a black
cross on it ? " Mr. Birchall now let Miss E. hold hands instead
of himself, and Miss R. very soon said, "Is it a card ?" (Right.)
" Are there three spots on it ? ... Don't know what they are.
... I don't think I can get the colour, . . . They are one above
the other, but they seem three round spots. ... I think they're
red, but am not clear."

Next object a play ing card with a blue anchor painted on it
slantwise instead of pips. No contact at all this time, but

another lady, Miss R d, who had entered the room, assisted

Mr. B. and Miss E. as agents. "Is it an anchor? ... a little
on the slant." (Do you see any colour?) "Colour is black.
... It's a nicely drawn anchor." When asked to draw she
sketched part of it, but had evidently half forgotten it, and not
knowing the use of the cross arm, she could only indicate that
there was something more there but she couldn't remember
what. Her drawing had the right slant exactly.

Another object two pairs of coarse lines crossing; drawn in
red chalk, and set up at some distance from agents. No con-
tact. " I only see lines crossing." She saw no colour. She
afterwards drew them quite correctly, but very small.

Double object. It was now that I arranged the double object

between Miss R d and Miss E., who happened to be sitting

nearly facing one another. [See Nature, June I2th, 1884.]
The drawing was a square on one side of the paper, a cross on

the other. Miss R d looked at the side with

the square on it. Miss E. looked at the side
with the cross. Neither knew what the other
was looking at nor did the percipient know
ORIGINALS. that anything unusual was being tried. Mr.
Birchall was silently asked to take off his atten-
tion and he got up and looked out of window
before the drawings were brought in, and
during the experiment. There was no con-
REPRODUCTIOM. tact. Very soon Miss R. said, " I see things
moving about ... I seem to see two things ... I see first one
up there, and then one down there ... I don't know which to
draw. , , . I can't see either distinctly." (Well, anyhow, draw
what you have seen.) She took off the bandage and drew first
a square, and then said, " Then there was the other thing
as well . . . afterwards they seemed to go into one,* and she

x

38 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

drew a cross inside the square from corner to corner, adding
afterwards, " I don't know what made me put it inside."

No. 7. By HERR MAX DESSOIR.

In June 1885 some successful experiments in
thought-transference were made by Herr Dessoir, of
Berlin, author of A Bibliography of Modern Hypnotism,
and other works, with the co-operation of some friends,
Herren Weiss, Biltz, and Sachse. There were in all
eighteen trials with diagrams in which Herr Dessoir
was the percipient. The diagrams which follow
reproduced from the original drawings were the
result of six consecutive trials. They are, as will be
seen, not completely successful , but they convey a
fair idea of the amount of success attained in the whole
series. It should be noted that the impression re-
ceived by the percipient appears to have been per-
sistent; and that the second attempt at reproduction,
in five out of the six cases, was more successful than
the first, Herr Dessoir states that he was generally
out of the room whilst the figure was being drawn ;
he returned at the given signal, with eyes closely
bandaged ; " I set myself at the table, and in many
instances placed my hands on the table, and the agent
placed his hands on mine; the hands lay quite still on
one another. When an image presented itself to my
mind, the hands were removed . . and I took off
the bandage and drew my figure."

A full account of these experiments, and of others
conducted by Herr Dessoir, will be found in Proc.
S.P.R., vol. iv. pp. 111-126; vol. v. pp. 35 5-3 57-

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 39

I.

ORIG.

Agent : W. S.

REP. i.

REP. i.

REP. 2.

While the second reproduction was pro-
ceeding, an interruption occurred which
prevented its completion.

II.
ORIG.

Agent : H. B.
REP. 2. REP. 3.

Rrcp. 4.

-fi

40 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

III.

REP. i. REP. 2.

ORIG.

Agent : II. B.

REP. 3.

. The percipient said, " It looks like a
window."

IV.

REP. I.

REP. 2.

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 41

REP. 3.

Agent ; H. B.

REP. i.

REP. 2.

42 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

ORIG.

REI>. 2.

Agent: E. W. The percipient said, " It looks like a window."

No. 8. By HERR SCHMOLL and M. MABIRE.

Of more recent experiments with diagrams, those
recorded by Herr Anton Schmoll and M. Etienne
Mabire are perhaps the most important 1 The ex-
periments took place at Herr Schmoirs house, in
Avenue de Villiers, Paris. In addition to Herr
Schmoll and M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll and four or
five other persons assisted at one time or another.
Mr. F. W. H. Myers was also present on three
occasions. In all about 100 trials were made with
diagrams and real objects (the actual number of
experiments of all kinds was 148), full details of which
will be found in the original papers. The experi-
ments were made in the evenings, in a room lighted
by a hanging lamp. The agents, usually three or
four in number, sat at a round table immediately
under the lamp, and fixed their eyes on the diagram
or object, which was placed on the table before them.
The percipient, with his eyes bandaged, sat in full
view of the agents with his back to them in a corner
of the room at a distance of about ten feet from the
object Silence was maintained during the experi-
ments, except where otherwise expressly stated.
The object or diagram was carefully hidden before
the handkerchief was removed from the eyes of the

1 Proc. Sof. Psych. Research , vol. iv. pp. 324 et seq.\ vol. v. pp.
169 et seq.

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 43

percipient to enable him to draw his impression. In
the first nineteen experiments the figure was drawn
with the end of a match dipped in ink, whilst the per-
cipient was in the room. It was not likely, under
the circumstances, as the match moved almost noise-
lessly over the paper, that any indication of the
figure drawn could by this means have been given to
the percipient. Nevertheless, in the later experiments
quoted the precaution was taken to draw the figure
whilst the percipient was in another room, and a soft
brush was substituted for the match. The following
is a record, by Herr Schmoll, of the last two evenings
of the first series :

1 8. August iqt1i> 1886.

Agents Mdlle. Louise, Frau Schmoll, Schmoll.
Percipient M. Mabire.
Object (drawn)

Result M. Mabire saw " a sort of semicircle like the tail of a
comet, but of spiral construction, like some of the nebulas."
"What he saw he reproduced in the following manner :

19. The same evening.

Agents Mdlle. Louise, M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll.
Percipient Schmoll.
Object (drawn)

4

Result " I see two double lines, that cross each other at about
right angles." (Pause.) " The two double lines now appear

44 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

single, but like rays of light, and in the form of an X."
(Another pause.) "Now I see the upper part of the X
separated from the lower by a vertical line." I draw :

20. The same evening.

Agents Mdlle. Louise, M. Mabire, Schmoll.

Percipient Frau Schmoll.

Object A brass weight of 500 grms. was placed on the table.

Result " What I see looks like a short piece of candle, without
a candlestick. It must be burning, for at the upper end I
see it glitter."

Remark At the upper part of the object, indicated by the
arrow, bright reflections, caused 'by the oblique lighting,
were seen by all the agents (the weight was rubbed bright).
The form seen decidedly resembles the original, especially
the outline.

21. The same evening.

Agents M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll, Schmoll.

Percipient Mdlle. Louise.

Object My gold watch (without the chain) was noiselessly
placed before us, the back turned towards us ; on the face
are Roman numbers.

Result After five minutes : " I see a round object, but I cannot
describe it more particularly." (During the pause that
followed, without causing the slightest noise, I turned the
watch round, so that we saw the face.) Soon Mdlle. Louise
called out : " You are certainly looking at the clock over
the piano, for now I quite clearly see a clock face with
Roman numbers."

[The watch, as was ascertained after the experiment, was not
going at the time.]

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 45

22.- September loth, 1886.

Agents Mdlle. Louise, M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll.

Percipient Schmoll.

Object A pamphlet (in 8vo) was slantingly placed on the table.

Result Completely failed. I saw nothing whatever.

Remark At the beginning of our trials to-day we had neg-
lected to clear the table. The book was surrounded by
other objects, and also badly lighted.

23. The same evening.

Agents Mdlle. Louise, M. Mabire, Schmoll.

Percipient Frau Schmoll.

Object A piece of candle, 20 centimetres long, was placed on
the table.

Result After eight minutes : " I see it well, but not clearly
enough to say what it is. It is a thin, long object."

" How long ? " asked M. Mabire.

Frau Schmoll tried by separating her hands to give a measure-
ment, but could not do it with certainty, and said, " A full
hand's length, about 20 centimetres." Begged for a further
description, she said, " I see something like a walking-stick,
but at one end there must be gold, for something shines
there." (The candle was not burning.)

24. The same evening.

Agents M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll, Schmoll.

Percipient Mdlle. Louise.

Object A Faience tea-pot was placed on the table :

Result After five minutes : "It is not a drawing, but a real
object. I see very clearly a little vase, a little pot or pan."

25. The same evening.

Agents Mdlle. Louise, Frau Schmoll, Schmoll.

Percipient M. Mabire.

Object The stamp of the firm was placed on the table :

46 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Result After twenty minutes r " The picture appears to be
rather confused. But I believe that I see the lower part of a
drinking glass." (Pause.) " Now it has gone again." (A
pause of five minutes.) " Now I see another form, like
two symmetrical S-shaped double curves, placed side by
side." Then M. Mabire drew :

Remark Apparently the lower part was seen first, and then
the upper.

26. The same evening.

Agents-r-TA. Mabire, Frau Schmoll, Schmoll.
Percipient Mdlle. Louise.

Object The double eye-glasses (pince-nez) belonging to M.
Mabire were laid on the table.

Result After five minutes : " I see two curves, open above,
that do not touch each other." Then Mdlle. Louise
drew :

Unfortunately, the original drawings and reproduc-
tions in this series were not preserved. The figures
given are facsimile reproductions of those in Herr
SchmoH's MS. record, which were copied at the time
on a reduced scale from the actual drawings made by
the agent and the percipient respectively. In the
second series the actual drawings have been pre-
served. In the experiments quoted below, as already
stated, the figure was drawn whilst the percipient was
out of the room, and (with the exception of No. 58)

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE.

47

several copies were made of the drawing, " in order
that each agent might be able to see the drawing in
an upright position, and that he might be able to
place it at the most favourable point of view." The
percipient when ready withdrew the bandage from
his eyes and, still seated in the chair with his back tc
the agents, executed the reproduction.

April $M, 1887.

No. of
Trial.

Percipient.

Agents.

Original
Drawing.

Result.

51

Mdlle. Louise

4.

M.

Mrae. D.

C*j

UV/J

Mdlle. Jane.

^fr

Ml

Mme. Schmoll

1

II

M. Schmoll.

X

<iar

Each agent

Before drawing the

had a copy

above figure, Mdlle.

of the ori-
ginal.

Louise said, "a ter-
restrial globe on a
support."

10 minutes.

52

Mdlle. Jane.

4.

Mdllo. Louise
in place of
Mdlle. Jane.

4

/

Four copies of

10 minutes.

the original

were used by

the agents.

63

Mme. Schmoll

3.

^

A

Three copies
used.

During the experiment
Mme. Schmoll said

that she saw ' a little

roof."

10 minutes.

54

Mdlle. Jane.

3.

1-1

^^^

Mrae. Schmoll

^"^

/^CS^

in place of

V i

Mdlle. Jane.

JL

*r

Three copies

15 minutes.

used.

Mdlle. Jane, after having seen the original, said that her first
idea had been that of a glass.

48 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

April 5//z, 1887 (continued}.

No. of
Trial.

Percipient.

Agents.

Original
Drawing.

Result.

55

Mme. D.

4.

6\-

vlx

Four copies

10 minutes.

used.

50

M. Schmoll.

4.

Mme. D. in

Slace of M.

flit

.

chmoll.

iri

$Vi

W

p 'A

Four copies

10 minutes.

used.

57

A Failure.

68

Mdlle. Jane.

6.

I\

After five minutes
Mdlle. Jane said,

nL 1

" I see a cat's head."

^^^t/

On being asked to

^*r

draw what she saw,

she produced the
following figure :

This was the

first time

t>^ vtfl

that an ani-

r*5t > j^-i

m a 1 had

\ **'^^E

been drawn.

^2Jx

59

Mdlle. Jane.

6.

/S^k

At the end of five
minutes, Mdlle. Jane

/*JM)

having said, "i is
a head in profile" a

^^ mr

cry of joy unfortu-

* V

nately escaped one

Vta^ ^^

of those present.

This was the

This cry having be-
trayed to Mdlle.
Jane that she had

first time
that a head

guessed rightly, no
drawing was made.

had been

In order to repair

drawn.

the wrong as much
as possible, Mdlle.
Jane was asked

which way the head

was turned. " To

the left," she re-

plied.

Experiments 6p, 61, 62, 63, 64 were failures,
an experiment with a diagram.

No. 65 was not

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE.
April ^th, 1887.

49

No. of
Trial.

Percipient.

Agents.

Original
Drawing.

Result.

C6

Mdlle. Louise.

5.

At the end of a few

(plus Mr. Myers)

minute

s, Mdlle.

Louise sa

Lid, "I seo

three fish on a

skewer."

Not being

well undc

>rstood, she

explained

" Three

fish held by a skewer,

that is a

3 they are

sold in

the fish

markets ;

but every-

body know* that 1 "

Then slw

3 took off

her bandage and

drew

V

\J

^

This figure was

u

drawn by

',

Mr. Myers.

67

Failure.

68

Failure.

* . ~

m i *
J

69

Mdlle. Louise.

5.
plus Mr. Myers)

f

f

Appended is a statement from Mdlle. Jane D., a
young lady of 20, who appears to have been one of
the most successful percipients in this series :

" Whenever I have taken part in the experiments as per-
cipient, I have endeavoured to expel from my mind all thoughts
and images, and have remained inactive, with my hands over
my eyes, waiting for the production of an impression ; some-
times I have tied up my eyes, but this plan has not always been

4

SO APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

successful. At other times the idea of an object has presented
itself to me before I have seized its form, but most frequently I
seemed to see the picture either black on a white ground, or
white on a black ground. In general, the objects present them-
selves in an undecided manner, and pass away very rapidly ;
usually I only grasp a portion of them.

" Whenever I have been most successful, I have remarked
that the picture has presented itself to my imagination almost
instantaneously. Sometimes also I have been led to draw an
object of which the name was forced on me, as if by some
external influence.

"JANED.
"Paris, February \*]th, 1888."

Appended are a few facsimiles of the most success-
ful of the above results, reproduced in the original
size.

No. 51. ORIGINAL.

No. 51. - REPRODUCTION.

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 51

No. 53. ORIGINAL.

A

No. 53. REPRODUCTION,

52 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

No 56. ORIGINAL.

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE.

No. 56. REPRODUCTION.

No. 58. ORIGINAL. No. 58. REPRODUCTION.

No. 66.ORIGINAL.

54 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

No. 66. REPRODUCTION,

No. Q. By DR. VON SCHRENK-NOTZING.

Baron von Schrenk-Notzing, M.D., of Munich,
whose work in hypnotism is well known, carried on a
series of experiments with diagrams and numbers, etc.,
in the course of the year iSgo. 1 Space will not permit
of our quoting these results in full, The following
experiments are selected as being the only three in
which the agent and percipient were in different
rooms. The percipient, Fraulein A., was u patient
of Dr. von Schrenk-Notzing's, of rather hysterical
temperament; throughout the experiments she was
in a normal condition and fully awake. In these
three trials, which took place between 10.12 P.M. and
10.23 P.M. on the isth October 1890, Fraulein A.
sat on a chair in the agent's study about a yard from
the door leading into the adjoining room, and with
her back towards it j paper and pencil were on the
table before her. In the adjoining room, about 12

1 Proc, S.P.fi., vol. vii. pp. 3-22.

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 55

feet in a direct line from the percipient, with the door
of communication closed, Dr. von Schrenk-Notzing
stood, beside a small table, and drew a rough diagram
representing the staff of ^Esculapius and the Serpent
When the drawing was complete, to quote Dr.
Schrenk-Notzing,

" I call * Ready ? ' The percipient says, * Yes.' We have
been drawing at the same time in different rooms. On return-
ing to the study I compare the drawings and see with astonish-
ment that Fraulein A. has drawn a serpent. Even the open
mouth and the thickened end of the tail in the reproduction
agree with the original. The experiment has succeeded in its
essential part, and as regards strictness of conditions I think it
quite unassailable. Unconscious suggestion is absolutely ex-
cluded, when agent and percipient are in different rooms.
Any corresponding association of ideas seems to me also impos-
sible, for the idea of the staff of ^Esculapius first occurred to me
in the other room. In the study there is no object which could
have led up to the idea no indication which could have pointed
out the way."

The percipient had, in fact, drawn a spiral figure
apparently intended to represent a serpent.

The two other experiments here referred to were
performed in immediate succession, and under pre-
cisely similar conditions, the time allowed in each
case being about two minutes.

In the second experiment the agent drew an arrow;
the percipient drew another spiral, with intersecting
loops. In this case, as the agent points out, the
original idea of the serpent appears to have per-
sisted in the percipient's mind.

In the third experiment the agent drew a triangle
inscribed in a circle ; also two diameters to the circle,
crossing each other at right angles, the vertical
diameter bisecting the upper angle of the triangle.
The agent writes :

"The drawing was done in the following way. I began
with the triangle, and then drew the perpendicular on the
base. The idea that thereupon occurred to me, that the
figure was too simple, induced me to add a circle and
to prolong the perpendicular to the circumference; finally I

$6 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

added the horizontal diameter. The percipient was drawing at
the same time at table , sitting on chair 5, with her back to the
closed door of communication. Question from the next room,
4 Are you ready?' Answer, 'Stop,' as I am about to open
the door. Then, * Now.' I open the door and enter the room.
The two drawings agree except that the circle and the hori-
zontal diameter are wanting. Even the perpendicular of the
triangle, which has become obtuse angled, is prolonged beyond
the base, just as in the original. This prolongation and addition
of the perpendicular cannot be explained by any tendency of
ideas to recur (diagram-habit). Only the fact that a triangle
was drawn might, taken alone, be explained in some such way."

Figures of the original diagrams in this case are
given in the Proceedings of tlie S.P.R.

Some experiments with diagrams, conducted in
July 1890 by Drs. Grimaldi and Fronda, have been
published by Lombroso. 1 The subject was a young
man of twenty, subject to hysterical attacks and spon-
taneous somnambulism. The first experiments were
made in the hypnotic state, with numbers, and met
with only moderate success. Later, however, the
trials were made in the normal state. At the first
sitting diagrams were tried. The subject had his
eyes firmly bandaged and his ears plugged with
cotton wool. The diagrams were drawn at a certain
distance (ad una certa distanza) from the subject, and
behind him. Under these conditions the first five
experiments were completely successful ; the subject
reproduced in turn a rhomb, a circle, a triangle, an
irregular pentagon, shaped something like the pro-
file of a barn, and a cone. The next experiment
failed, only a formless scribble being obtained. The
subject was much exhausted, and fell into a semi-
cataleptic state as soon as the bandage was removed.

Some success was obtained in later sittings, in the
guessing of names and in the execution of mental
commands. But the experiments had soon to be
abandoned, on account of the health of the percipient.

Other experiments with diagrams, in addition to

1 Trasmissiom del Fensiero, etc,, Naples, 1891.

TRANSFERENCE IN NORMAL STATE. 57

those above referred to, will be found in the Proceed-
ings of the S.P.R., vol. i. pp. 161-215, by Mr. Gurney,
the writer, and others; vol. ii. pp. 207-216, by Mr.
W. J. Smith. The paper on Thought-transference,
etc., by Professor C. Richet, Proceedings, vol. v. pp.
18-168, should also be consulted in this connection.

CHAPTER III.

EXPERIMENTAL TRANSFERENCE OF SIMPLE SENSA-
TIONS WITH HYPNOTISED PERCIPIENTS.

As already stated, the hypnotic state offers peculiar
facilities for observing the transmission of thought
and sensation. It is possible that the superior suscept-
ibility of the hypnotised percipient is in some measure
due simply to the quiescence and freedom from
spontaneous mental activity very generally induced
by the state of sleep-waking. There are indications,
moreover, that the hypnotic state itself may present
in many cases a specialised manifestation of that
rapport which would appear to exist generally be-
tween Agent and Percipient in thought-transference.
But the close association of the telepathic activities
with the consciousness which emerges in hypnotism
and allied states suggests an explanation of a more
general kind, and may possibly throw light on the
evolution of the faculty itself. 1 However this may be,
there can be no question that the most remarkable
results in experimental telepathy so far recorded are
those given in this and the following chapters with
hypnotised percipients.

Transference of Tastes.

The fact that notwithstanding this recognised
facility comparatively few observers have experimented
with hypnotised subjects, except in one or two direc-

1 See the discussion on this question in Chapter XVI-

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STATE. 59

tions, calls for some explanation. There are, indeed,
innumerable records of the transmission of sensations
of taste and pain in the hypnotic state. The uncer-
tainty attending any experiment in the first direction
with subjects in whom special exaltation of any
particular sense is not merely possible, but even under
the conditions of the experiments probable, has been
already pointed out. Such trials, conducted with a
variety of substances nearly all of which are in some
degree odorous, must necessarily He under suspicion.
To the references quoted in the preceding chapter (p. 21)
and to the experiments of this nature recorded in the
Proceedings of the S.P.J?. 1 it will suffice here to add one
further instance, in which the hypothesis of hyper-
aesthesia seems hardly an adequate explanation of the
result. In a communication to the Revue Philosophique
in February 1889, Dr. Dufay quotes the following
passage from a letter received by him from Dr. Azai^n,
the veteran historian of Flida X.:

No. 10. By DR. AZAM.

u I myself, and I believe many other medical men, have
observed cases of this or of a similar nature. I will quote two,
in which I think I took all necessary precautions before being
convinced of their truth.

"ist. About 1853 or 1854, 1 had under my care a young woman
with confirmed hysteria : nothing was easier than to put her to
sleep by various means. I consider myself entitled to state
that, while holding her hand, my unspoken thoughts were trans-
ferred to her, but upon this I do not insist, error and fraud
being possible.

"But the transmission of a definite sensation seemed to me to
be absolutely certain. This is how I proceeded : Having put
the patient to sleep, and seated myself by her side, I leaned
towards her and dropped my handkerchief behind her chair ;
then, while stooping to lift it up, I quickly put into my mouth a
pinch of common salt, which, unknown to her, I had beforehand
put into the right-hand pocket of my waistcoat. The salt being
absolutely without smell, it was impossible that the patient
should have known that I had some in my mouth ; but as soon

1 Vol. i. pp. 226, 241 ; vol. ii. pp. 17-19.

60 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

as I raised myself again I saw her face express disgust, and she
moved her lips about. * That is very nasty/ she said ; ' why
did you put salt into my mouth ? '

" I have repeated this experiment several times with other
inodorous substances, and it has always succeeded. I report
this fact alone because it seems to me to be certain."

Transference of Pain,

Experiments with sensations of pain, as has been
pointed out, stand on a different footing. There is no
special source of error to be guarded against. The
following trials, conducted by Mr. Edmund Gurney,
with the assistance of the present writer and others,
on two evenings in the early part of 1883, will perhaps
suffice to indicate the possibility of such transmission.
The percipient was a youth named Wells, at the time
of the experiments a baker's apprentice. He was
hypnotised by Mr. G. A. Smith. During the trials
Wells was blindfolded, and Mr. Smith stood behind
his chair. On the first evening Mr. Smith held one
of the percipient's hands ; and throughout the series
it was necessary for Mr. Smith to hold communication
with Wells ; the only words used, however, being
the simple uniform question, "Do you feel any-
thing?"!

No. ii. By EDMUND GURNEY.

First Series. Jaiiuary 4///, 1883.

1. The upper part of Mr. Smith's right arm was pinched con-

tinuously. Wells, after an interval of about two minutes,
began to rub the corresponding part on his own body.

2. Back of the neck pinched. Same result.

3. Calf of left leg slapped. Same result.

1 It is a frequent experience that hypnotised subjects are incapable of
responding to any voice other than that of the person who has hypnotised
them. ^ The difficulty can, indeed, generally be removed by asking the
hypnptiser to place some other person in rapport with the subject i.e.,
to give the subject the suggestion that he should also be able to
hear the person indicated. At this early stage of our experiments it
would appear, however, that this device had for some reason not been
adopted.

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STATE. 6 1

4. Lobe of left ear pinched. Same result.

5. Outside of left wrist pinched. Same result.

6. Upper part of back slapped. Same result.

7. Hair pulled. Wells localised the pain on his left arm.

8. Right shoulder slapped. The corresponding part was cor-

rectly indicated.

9. Outside of left wrist pricked. Same result.

10. Back of neck pricked. Same result.

11. Left toe trodden on. No indication given.

12. Left ear pricked. The corresponding part was correctly

indicated.

13. Back of left shoulder slapped. Same result.

14. Calf of right leg pinched. Wells touched his arm.

15. Inside of left wrist pricked. The corresponding part was

correctly indicated.

16. Neck below right ear pricked. Same result.

In the next series of these experiments Wells was blindfolded,
as before ; but in this case a screen was interposed between
Mr. Smith and Wells ; and there was no contact between
them. During two or three of the trials Mr. Smith was in an
adjoining room, separated from Wells by thick curtains.

Second Series. April loth, 1883.

17. Upper part of Mr. Smith's left ear pinched. After a lapse

of about two minutes, Wells cried out, " Who's pinching
me ? " and began to rub the corresponding part.

1 8. Upper part of Mr. Smith's left arm pinched. Wells indi-

cated the corresponding part almost at once.

19. Mr. Smith's right ear pinched. Wells struck his own right

ear, after the lapse of about a minute, as if catching a
troublesome fly, crying out, " Settled him that time."

20. Mr. Smith's chin was pinched. Wells indicated the right

part almost immediately.

21. The hair at the back of Mr. Smith's head was pulled. No

indication.

22. Back of Mr. Smith's neck pinched. Wells pointed, after a

short interval, to the corresponding part.

23. Mr. Smith's left ear pinched. Same result.

After this, Mr. Smith being now in an adjoining room, Wells
began, as he said, " to go to sleep ; " and said that he " didn't
want to be bothered." He was partially waked up, and the
experiments were resumed.

[Four experiments with tastes are here omitted.]

28. Mr. Smith's right calf pinched. Wells was very sulky, and
for a long time refused to speak. At last he violently
drew up his right leg, and began rubbing the calf.

62 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

After this Wells became still more sulky, and refused in the
next experiment to give any indication whatever. With con-
siderable acuteness he explained the reasons for his contumacy.
" I ain't going to tell you, for if I don't tell you, you won't go
on pinching me. You only do it to make me tell." Then he
added, in reply to a remonstrance* from Mr. Smith, " What do
you^ want me to tell for ? they ain't hurting you^ and /can stand
their pinching.' 1 All this time Mr. Smith's left calf was being
very severely pinched.

To the onlooker the situation was rendered addi-
tionally piquant by the fact that the boy, at the very
time when he was apparently acutely sensitive to pain
inflicted upon Mr. Smith, showed no sign of suscept-
ibility when any part of his own person was pretty
severely maltreated. The only point in the trials
which seems to call for special notice is the failure on
two occasions to indicate the seat of pain when the
agent's hair was pulled (7 and 21). Numerous trials
with the same and other percipients have shown that
this particular experiment rarely succeeds, possibly
because the pain so caused is with many people not
of an acute kind. 1

Transference of Visual Images.

But when we leave these experiments in the
transfer of the less specialised forms of sensation we
find that but few observers have paid attention to
the phenomena of telepathy in the hypnotic state.
Probably this is in some measure due to one or two
initial difficulties in conducting experiments on 'such
subjects. Opening the eyes to permit the subject to
reproduce a diagram will in many cases have the effect
of wakening him. Again, with some persons it is a
matter of difficulty to maintain the exact stage of the
hypnotic trance when they are quiescent enough for
the alien impression to meet with little risk of disturb-
ance from the subject's own mental activities, and yet

1 Cf. No. 19 in the series of similar trials conducted with Miss Relph.
P. 24.

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STATE. 63

sufficiently alert to prevent them from relapsing, as
was frequently the case with Wells, the percipient
just referred to, into a torpid sleep from which no
further response could be elicited. But, after all, these
difficulties when they occur can readily be overcome
by the exercise of a little patience. If the study of
thought-transference in the hypnotic state has been
comparatively neglected, it is mainly because, as
already suggested, with most persons the more salient
phenomena of the trance hallucination, anaesthesia,
rigidity, etc. have distracted attention from what may
ultimately prove to be a more fruitful line of inquiry.
For the following record we are indebted to Dr.
Libeault, of Nancy, who sent us the account in 1886.

No. 12. By DR. LIEBEAULT.

[The first series of experiments were made on the afternoon of
the loth December 1885, in Dr. Lidbeault's house at Nancy.
There were present, in addition, Madame S., Dr. Brullard, and
Professor Lilgeois, who acted as agent, and Mademoiselle M.,
the subject. The subject was hypnotised by Professor Lidgeois,
and experiments were made with diagrams, and in two cases the
design a water-bottle (carafe) and a table with a drawer and
drawer-knob was reproduced with exactness. Precautions
had, of course, been taken to conceal the original design from
the percipient. The account of the seventh and last experiment
is quoted in full.]

"7. M. Lidgeois wrote the word mariage, Mdlle. M. then
wrote ' Monsieur.' Then she said ' Decanter, no picture
no.' [What is the letter?] ' It is an /no, it is an m.' Then
after thinking for some minutes, * There is an i in the word, an a
after the m a g another a an e there are six letters no
seven.' When she had found all the letters and their places,
ma iage, she could not find the letter r. After a few minutes it
was suggested to her that she should try combinations with the
different consonants, and finally she wrote mariage*

[Further experiments were made by Dr. Lidbeault, in con-
junction with M. Stanislas de Guaita, on the Qth January 1886.
The subject in this case was Mademoiselle Louise L., who
was hypnotised by Dr. Lie*beault. The first two experiments,
which are not quoted here, suggest lip-reading or unconscious
audition as a possible explanation ; but the third experiment
of this series and the two subsequent trials with Mdlle. Camille

64 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Simon present interesting illustrations of a telepathic hallucin-
ation superimposed upon a basis of reality.]

"3. Dr. Lidbeault, in order that no hint should be given even
in a whisper, wrote on a piece of paper, t Mademoiselle, on
waking, will see her black -hat transformed into a red one.' The
paper was first passed round to all the witnesses, then MM.
Liebeault and De Guaita placed their hands silently on the
subject's forehead, mentally formulating the sentence agreed
upon. After being told she would see something unusual in the
room, the young woman was awakened. Without a moment's
hesitation she^fixed her eyes upon the hat, and with a burst of
laughter exclaimed that it was not her hat, she would have none
of it. It was the same shape certainly, but this farce had lasted
long enough we must really give her back her own. [' Come
now, what difference do you see?'] 'You know quite well.
You have eyes like me.' [' Well what ? '] We had to press her
for some time before she would say what change had come over
her hat ; surely we were making fun of her. At last she said,
' You can see for yourselves that it is red.' As she refused to
take it we were forced to put an end to her hallucination by
telling her that her hat would presently resume its usual colour.
The doctor breathed on it, and when it became, in her eyes, her
own again, she consented to take it back. Directly afterwards
she remembered nothing of her hallucination. . . .

"Nancy, Qth January 1886.

" Signed, A. A. LI&BEAULT.

STANISLAS DE GUAITA." *

" We had one very successful experiment with a young girl of
about fifteen, Mdlle. Camille Simon, in the presence of M. Brullard
and several other persons. I gave her a mental suggestion
that on waking she should see her hat, which was brown,
changed to yellow. I then put her en rapport with all the
others, and I passed round a slip of paper indicating my sug-
gestion, and asking them to think of the same thing. But, by
a lapse of memory not unusual to me, I did not think after all
of the colour which I had written down ; I had a distinct im-
pression that -she would see her hat red. On awaking her I
told her she would see something representing our common
thought. When she was wakened she wondered at the colour
of her hat.^ 'It was brown,' she said. After having thought
for a long time, she assured us that really it did not look at all
the same, that she could not quite define the colour, but that it
seemed to her a sort of yellow-red. Then I remembered my

1 Quoted in Le Sommeil Provoqn^ etc^ by Dr. Liebeault, Paris,
1889, pp. 295, 296.

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STATE. 65

aberration. In the present case the others thought of yellow,
I of red : thus the object appeared yellow and red to the
awakened somnambule ; which proves that the mental sug-
gestion may be the echo of the thought of many minds."

[The following experiment, made with the same " subject," and
sent to us by Dr. Liebeault on June 3, 1886, is an interesting
example of temporary latency of the telepathic impression : ]

"In another experiment with the same young girl it was
suggested to her, mentally, by several persons that on awaking
she would see a black cock walking about the room. For a
considerable time after waking, neaily half-an-hour, she said
nothing, although I told her she would see something. It was
about half-an-hour afterwards that, having gone into the garden
and looked by chance into my little courtyard, she came
running back to us to say, 'Ah, I know what I was to see : it
was a black cock. This came into my head when I was looking
at your cock. 3 My cock is greenish-black on the wings, tail
and breast ; everywhere else he is yellowish-white. Here we
have an iciea caused by the sight of a real object associated
with a fictitious idea mentally transmitted by the persons
present."

Between the beginning of July and the end of
October 1889 a series of trials in the transference
of numbers was conducted by Mrs. H. Sidgwick, with
the assistance of Professor Sidgwick and Mr. G. A.
Smith. The conditions were as follows: Some small
wooden counters, belonging to a game called Loto,
and having the numbers from 10 to 90 stamped on
them in raised figures, were placed in a bag. From
this bag, which it will be seen contained 81 numbers
in all, Mr. G. A. Smith drew a counter, placing it in a
little wooden box, the edges of which effectually
concealed it from the view of the percipient. The
percipient, who had been previously placed in the
hypnotic state by Mr. Smith, sat with his eyes closed
and guessed the number drawn. The remarks, if
any, made during the experiments, and the results,
were recorded by Mrs. Sidgwick. After the first few
days it was arranged, in order to avoid all possibility
of bias in recording the numbers, that Professor
Sidgwick should draw the counter from the bag and
hand it to Mr. Smith, and that Mrs. Sidgwick should

5

66 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

be herself ignorant of the number drawn. Through-
out the experiments, although eight or more other
persons tried to act as agent, Mr. Smith alone was
successful. Mr. Smith himself failed to produce any
result when the percipients were not hypnotised.
The following detailed account of part of the experi-
ments on one day, July 6th, 1889, will give a fair idea
of the whole ; but it should be added that in later
experiments Mr. Smith kept complete silence, and
that on several occasions a newspaper was placed
over R's head. These precautions do not appear to
have affected the success of the experiment.

The percipient was Mr. P., a clerk in a wholesale
business, aged about nineteen, who had been fre-
quently hypnotised by Mr. Smith, and now passes
into the hypnotic state very quickly, his eyes turn-
ing upwards as he goes off, before the eyelids close.
He is a lively young man, with a good deal of
humour, and preserves the same character in the
sleep-waking state.

No 13. By PROFESSOR and MRS. SIDGWICK.

1 NUMBER OUESSKI), AND UOIYUKS.

87 ... S. : "Now, P., you're going to see numbers. I shall
look at them, and you will see them." P. (almost
immediately): "87. You asked me if I saw a
number. I see an 8 and a 7." (Number put
away.) P. : " I see nothing now."

19 ... P.: " 18. What are those numbers on ? I see only the

letters like brass numbers on a door; nothing
behind them."

24 ... P. (after a pause) : " I keep on looking. . . . I see it !
an 8 and a 4 84."

35 ... P. : " A 3 and a 5-35." S.: "How did that look?"
P.: " I saw a 3 and a 5, then 35."

28 ... P.: "88. One behind the other, then one popped for-
ward, and I could see two eights." (Illustrated
it with his fingers.)

20 ... P.: " I can't see anything yet." S. :" You will directly. "

P.: "23." S. : "Saw that clearly?" P.:
" Not so plain as the other." S. : " Which did
you see best? " P. : "The 2."

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STATE. 67

HAWN NUMBER GUFSSED, AND REMARKS.

27 ... P. : " I can see 7, and I think a 3 in front of it. I can
see the 7." S. : " Make sure of the first figure."
P. : "The 7's gone now."

48 ... S. : " Here's another one, P." (This remark, though not
always recorded, almost always began each ex-
periment, until July 27th, when, to avoid the
possibility of unconscious indications, Mr. Smith
adopted the plan of not speaking at all.) P. :
"Another two, you mean. You say another
one, but there are always two." S. : "Yes,
two." P.: " Here it is. You said there were
two ! There's only one, an 8." Some remarks
here not recorded. We think that Mr. Smith
said there were two, and told him to look again.
P. said he saw a 4. Mrs. Sidgwick : "Which
came first?" P. : "The 8 first, then the 4 to
the left, so that it would have been 48. I should
like to know how you do that trick."

20 ... P. : " A 2 and an ; went away very quickly that time."

71 ... P. : "71."

36 ... P. : "3 ... 36."

75 ... P. : "I might turn round. Should I see them just the

same over there? " (Changed his position so as
to sit sideways in the chair, and looking away
from Mr. Smith.) S. : "Well, you might try."
P. : " I don't think I see so well this way."
(He did not move, however.) " I see a 7 and a
5 75. Why don't you let them both come at
once ? I believe I should see them better if you
let me open my eyes." (No notice was taken of
this.)

17 ... S.: "Now then, P., here's another." P. :" Put it there at
once." (Then, after some time :) " You've only
put a 4 up. I see 7." S. : " What's the other
figure?" P. : "4 ... the 4's gone." S. :
"Have a look again." P.: "I see I now."
S. : "Which way are they arranged?" P. :
" The 1 first and the 7 second."

52 ... S. : "Here's another." P. : "52. I saw that at once.
I'm sure there's some game about it." (He had
said something about this before, when the
number was slow in coming. He said Mr.
Smith was making game of him, and pretending
to look when he was not looking.)

76 ... P. : "76."

It will be observed that P. always speaks of "see-
ing" the figures, but as a matter of fact his eyes were
closed, or appeared to be closed, throughout the experi-

68 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

ments, and the pupils, as already stated, were intro-
verted, at least at the commencement of the trance.
That the impression was of a visual nature there can
be no reasonable doubt. This may have been due
to Mrs. Sidgwick's suggestion to the percipient that he
would see the figures : though it seems equally probable
that it was owing to the fact that Mr. Smith's impres-
sion was a visual one. That the vision in most cases
was perfectly distinct seems equally clear, It is diffi-
cult to decide whether impressions received under such
circumstances, with the eyes closed, are properly
to be classed as hallucinations. 1 That under appro-
priate conditions the percept was capable of rising
to the level of an externalised sensory hallucination,
the following experiments, which took place later
on the same day, July 6th, seem to show : A blank
sheet of paper was spread out on the table. P. was
told that he would see numbers on it, and was then
partially awakened and his eyes opened. He was at
once told to look at the paper and see what came,
but saw nothing for some time. Different stages of
the hypnotic trance frequently exhibit different and
mutually exclusive memories, and P. now had
evidently forgotten all about the previous state in
which he had been guessing numbers, and appeared
so wide awake that it was hard to believe that he
was not in a completely normal condition. Mr.
Smith stood behind him.

NUMBER SEEN ON THE PAPER, AND REMVRKS.

18 ... P. : "23." S. : "Is that what you can see?" P. :

" Yes" (but he added later that he did not see

it properly),
87 ... P. : " A 7, o. Oh, no, 8, 78. Funny ! I saw a 7 and

a little o, and then another came on the top of

it, and made an 8."
37 ... P. :" There's a 4, 7." Asked where, he offered to trace

it, 2 and drew 47 in figures \\ inches long.

1 For such impressions seen with closed eyes Kandinsky has pro-
posed the name pseudo-hallucinations.
8 He had been, on previous occasions, asked to trace hallucinations.

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STATE. 69

DRAWI? NUMBER SEEN ON THE PAPER, AND REMARKS.

44 ... P.: "No. I see 5, 4; it's gone again." S. : " All
right, look at it." P. : "45-" S. : "Sure?"
P. : " There's a 4 ; the other's not so clear."
(Then quickly:) " Two fours ; 44."

As he looked one of them disappeared, and he turned the
paper over to look for it on the other side ; then looked back at
the place where he saw it before and said, " That's funny !
while I was looking for that the other one's gone." When looking
under the paper he noticed some scribbling on the sheet below
and said, "Has that writing anything to do with it?" He
seemed puzzled by the figures, which were apparently genuine
externalised hallucinations. He could not make out why they
came, nor why they disappeared.

37 ... P. (after lon^ gazing): "37." S. : "Is that what you
sec?" P. : " It's gone. I'm pretty sure I saw
37-"

Mr. Smith then looked at the 37 again, and we told P. to
watch whether it came back, but after a little while he said he
thought he saw 29.

Similar trials were made with three other subjects,
Miss B., T., and W. In all 644 trials were made with the
agent in the same room with the percipient, of which
131 were successful, that is, both digits were given
correctly, though in 14 out of the 131 cases in reverse
order. The chance of success was of course I in 81,
and the most probable number of complete successes
was therefore 8. 218 trials were also made with Mr.
Smith in a different room from the percipient, but of
these only 9 succeeded, one having its digits reversed;
8 of these successes, however, occurred in the course
of 139 trials with P., whilst 79 trials with T. yielded
only one success. (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. pp. 123-170.)

As regards the possibility of unconscious indica-
tions of the number thought of being given by the
agent, it seems certain that no such clue could have
been perceived through the sense of sight or touch,
contact between agent and percipient having been
absolutely excluded throughout the experiments.
It remains to consider whether any indication could
have been given by means of sounds. In the pres-

70 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

ence of two or more attentive and vigilant witnesses
any indications by sounds e.g., an unconscious
whispering of the number by Mr. Smith could only
have been perceived by persons of abnormal suscepti-
bility. We know, indeed, of no precise limit which
can^ be set to the hypcraesthesia of hypnotised
subjects, But, on the other hand, hypersesthesia
of any sense in such subjects is generally the result
of suggestion, direct or indirect, on the part of the
operator; and in these experiments the only sugges-
tion given a suggestion apparently acted on through-
put was that they should see the result. Since,
indeed, hypnotised persons are apparently not neces-
sarily aware of the channel by which information
reaches them, this circumstance is not in itself con-
clusive ; but taken with the fact that no direct sug-
gestion to hear was given, it tends to make auditory
hypcraesthesia less probable. It is perhaps more
important to note that the experimenters, including
Mr. Smith himself, were fully aware of this source
of error, and on their guard against it; that no move-
ments of Mr. Smith's lips, such as must have occurred
if he had whispered the number, were observed ; and
that a careful analysis of the failures shows no
tendency to mistake one number for another similar
in sound e.g., four for five, six for seven, or five for
nine.

Experiments with Agent and Percipient in different
Rooms.

However, the later experiments by the same ob-
servers, recorded below, in which a marked degree of
success was obtained with agent and percipient in
different rooms, will no doubt be considered to render
untenable any explanation of the kind above indicated.
This further series was carried on through the years
1890-1-2. Mrs. Sidgwick, aided by Miss Johnson,
conducted the experiments throughout, with the

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STATE. 7 1

occasional assistance of Professor Sidgwick, Dr. A. T.
Myers, and others. The percipients were P., T., Miss
B., and three others, and Mr. G. A. Smith was in
nearly all cases the agent. Some of these experi-
ments, as in the last series, were with numbers of
two digits ; but the percipient was now in a different
room from the agent. At first the trials were
carried on in an arch, fitted up with two floors, under
the Parade at Brighton. On the ground-floor was
a little lobby, kitchen, etc. ; on the upper floor a sitting-
room about 15 feet square. The staircase, which, as
shown in the plan subjoined, led directly out of the
upper room, was not enclosed above, but had a door

Upstairs
Room

Window

Back Room

Kitchen

Lobby

I Door I

below, which was kept shut during the experiments.
The floor of the room above was covered with a thick
Axminster carpet. Even so the sound-insulation was
not perfect; but it was found that words spoken in
ordinary conversation on one floor were indistinguish-
able on the other unless the ear was pressed against
the door or wall of the staircase. In the experiments
carried on at Mrs. Sidgwick's lodgings in Brighton
the percipient sat in the room at a distance from the
door, which was closed, varying from 9 to 1 3 feet, and
Mn Smith was in the passage outside, Miss Johnson
sitting between him and the door. Of course strict
silence was observed by the agent One of the ex-

72 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

perimenters, in most cases Miss Johnson, accompanied
the agent, drew fhe number from the bag, and noted
each as it was drawn. Mrs. Sidgwick, of course in
ignorance of the number drawn, sat by the percipient
and took notes of his remarks. As in the previous
series, the impressions, received by the percipient,
who in the first experiments was Miss B., appear
generally to have been of a visual nature. Details
of all the trials with Miss B. as percipient and Mr.
Smith as sole a^cnt arc given in the following
table :

No. 14. By MRS. SIDGWICK AND OTHERS.
(i) PLACE, THE ARCH. PERCIPIENT UPSTAIRS ; AGENT

DOWNSTAIRS.

^

1

Is

+3

o

M

si)

Date 1890

'C

-2

2

ft"^

S'C

g

S

Notes.

'3

,2

+a' C

8t

fj

H

o*

'So

S

3

S

Jan. 6

7

'i

*i

6*
10

'i

2
4

8
17

/Professor Bairett present in addition to
\ the usual party.

8

it

2

3

This set was done under very unfavour-

H

'i

it

8

10

20

able conditions, as there were three

!! 12

Mar. 17

9
3

i

13
2

2

i

8
G

33
12

other percipients in the room guessing
at the same time, which was very con-

18

1

'i

1

i

4

8

fusing.

,, 22

1

5

i

4

11

Drs. Mjers, Penrose, and Lancaster pre-

., 23
July 8

2

6

'i

10
2

18
3

sent in addition to the usual party.
Drs. Myers and Rolleston present in addi-
tion to the usual party.

,, 9

_

1

3

2

6

Nov.

'i

1

1

3

Dr. Myers present.

10

i

'2

3

Totals

20

5

55

11

67

148

(2) PLACE, THE ARCH. PERCIPIENT DOWNSTAIRS ; AGENT
UPSTAIRS.

War. 17 ..

4

1

13

18

23 ..

2

3

7

12

June 16 ..

..

1

2

3

Miss McKerlie present.

Totals

"

7

4

22

33

* Two of these were Riven completely right first and then changed.
t The first digit of the number drawn was guessed first.

tRANSFJEREttCfc IN HYPNOTIC STAtE.

(3) PLACE, MRS. SIDGWICK'S LODGINGS. PERCIPIENT IN
ROOM, AND AGENT IN PASSAGE.

^j

15

o

* .

Date 1890

( cp

rever

5 -a

d'B
s >,

I

oi

3

o

Notes.

'3

To

1

8|

*

H

Mar. 19 .

1

. 2

3

Dee. 17 .

11

2

12

27

These guessos weie made by table-tilt. ng,

Mi.ss R notm.il, having her hands on

the table. Mi^ Robertson present on

December 17, 19, and 20.

,, 19 .

?,

1

X

1

7

ID .

1

4

5

Agent in room across passage, but only one
of the two intervening doors closed.

/

1

1

o

4

/Guesses made veibally by Miss 15.

1 hypnotised, bavins; her hands on the

"0 -

4 table.

!

1

1

o

4

Guesses tilted by the table, at the same
V time as the above.

20

1

1

1

4

7

Miss 15. hypnotised, guessing in the usual

way.

1

It

4

2

6

14

Guesses made by table-tilting, Miss 15. nor-
mal, having her hands on the table.

Totals

7

X

23

8

30

71

Totals of

(1)(2) A ((\)

27

8

85

23

109

252

together

J This was given completely right first and then changed.
See Chapter iv., pp. 90-100.

It will be seen that in 252 trials the number was
guessed quite correctly 27 times, and with digits in
reverse order 8 times the most probable number of
complete successes by chance being 3. Further, in
the unsuccessful trials the first digit was correctly
guessed no fewer than 85 times. The proportion of
successes in a series of trials carried on during the
same period with Mr. Smith in the same room with
Miss B. was, however, much higher viz., 29 (three
with digits reversed) out of 146 trials. It is notice-
able that in the short series of trials with Miss B. in
the lobby downstairs a very much smaller degree of
success was obtained, a result attributed by Mrs.
Sidgwick to the percipient's feeling ill at ease in her
surroundings.

Another noteworthy point is the large proportion

74 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

of cases in which the first digit was correctly named. 1
This disproportion is not found in the trials made
with the agent and the percipient in the same room,
and is possibly due, as suggested by Mrs. Sidgwick,
to Mr. Smith in all cases concentrating his attention
originally on the first digit. When in the same room
with the percipient he would hear when the first digit
had been named, and would then turn his attention to
the other; but when out of the room he could not,
of course, follow the process of guessing.

A further series of trials was conducted with the
percipient under the same conditions, except that
either P. or T. acted as agents jointly with Mr.
Smith. In all 53 trials were made, resulting in 9
complete successes and two with the digits reversed.
The proportion of successes, it will be seen, is much
higher than in the experiments first described ; but
the series is too short to allow of a safe conclusion
being drawn as to the superior efficacy of collective
agency.

Experiments conducted under similar conditions
with four other percipients yielded a slight but
appreciable measure of success. A large number
of trials nearly 400 in all were made with Miss
B. as percipient, the agent or agents being at a
still greater distance viz., being either in a separate
building, or with two closed doors and a passage
intervening; but practically no success was obtained.
Miss B. complained of the numbers being so far off.
" They arc all muddled up," she said on one occasion ;
"they seem miles off." It is not easy to account
satisfactorily for this failure, but it may probably
be attributed partly to a prejudicial effect exercised
by the novel conditions on the agent's or percipient's
anticipation of success, and partly to the tedious

1 As all numbers above 90 were excluded, and as o cannot come first,
the first digit should, by pure chance, have been correctly named more
often than the second; but the disproportion, it will be seen, is far
greater than could be thus accounted for.

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STATE. 7$

waiting inseparable from experiments of this kind,
where there is no ready means of communication
at the end of each trial. (Proc. S.P.R. y vol. viii. pp.
S36-5S2.)

Transference of Mental Pictures.

By MRS. SlDGWICK and Miss JOHNSON.

Later on, after various trials had been made with
little success with letters, playing cards, and diagrams,
a series of experiments was made in the transference
of mental pictures. There were in all 108 trials, with
5 percipients Miss B., P., and T., and two men,
Whybrew and Major, who had been subjects of an
itinerant lecturer on Hypnotism. The method of
experiment was as follows : A subject for a picture
was written down by Mrs. Sidgwick or Miss Johnson
and handed to Mr. Smith, who then summoned up a
mental representation of the subject suggested, which
he tried to transfer to the percipient. Occasionally,
to aid his imagination, he drew on paper a rough
sketch of the subject. During the experiment Mr.
Smith was sometimes close to the percipient, some-
times behind a screen, sometimes in another room.

When in the same room it was occasionally neces-
sary for Mr. Smith, in order to keep alive the per-
cipients interest and attention, to say a few words to
him from time to time. These remarks were always
recorded. In the earlier experiments the percipient's
eyes were open, and he was given a white card or a
crystal to look at ; and he appears to have seen the
pictures as if projected on these objects. In the later
trials the percipient's eyes were closed, but this change
in the conditions docs not appear in any way to have
affected the vividness of the impressions.

Successful experiments were made with all five
percipients, full details of which will be found in
the paper referred to. 1 It will suffice here to quote

1 Proc. S.P.R., vol. viii. pp. 554-577.

j6 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

a few illustrative cases of success, complete or
partial.

The first experiments were made on July 9th, 1890.
Miss B. was the percipient I quote the account of
the first two trials :

N. 15.

The percipient, being in a hypnotic trance, had her eyes
opened and was given a card and told to look out for a picture
which would come on it.

The subject, chosen by Mrs. Sidgwick, was a little boy
with a ball. Mr. Smith sat close to Miss B., but neither
spoke to her nor touched her. Miss B. presently said: "A
figure is coming a little boy." Mrs. Sidgwick asked what he
had in his hand, and Miss B. replied : "A round thing ; a ball, I
suppose."

For the next experiment Mr. Smith got behind a screen.
The subject, a kitten in a jar, was again set by Mrs. Sidgwick.
Miss B. said : " Something like an old cat a cat I think it's a
cat." Mrs. Sidgwick: "What is the cat doing?" Miss B.
(doubtfully): " Sitting down." Mrs. Sidgwick: " Is there any-
thing else but a cat?" Miss B. : "No; only scratches about."

In all 21 experiments of the kind were tried with
Miss B., of which 8, including the two above recorded,
may be classed as more or less successful.

The following experiments were made with P. on
November 5th, 1890. The notes of these cases were
taken by Miss Johnson, who was herself ignorant of
the subject, which was chosen by Mrs. Sidgwick.

The first experiment on this day was a failure.

No. 1 6.

Subject : A black kitten playing with a cork. P. : " Some-
thing like a cat; it's a cat." Mrs. Sidgwick: "What is it
doing ?" P. : " Something it's been feeding out of some milk,
is it a saucer? Can't see where its other paw is only see three
paws."

Subject : A sandwich man with advertisement of a play. P.
said: "Something like letter A stroke there, then there."
Mrs. Sidgwick : " Well, perhaps it will become clearer." P. :
" Something like a head on the top of it ; a V upside down-
two legs and then a head. A man with two boards looks like
a man that goes about the streets with two boards. I can see

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STATE. 77

a head at the top and the body and legs between the boards.
I couldn't see what was written on the boards, because the
edges were turned towards me." Mr. Smith told us afterwards
that he had pictured to himself the man and one board facing
him, thus not corresponding to the impression which P. had.

Subject : A choir-boy -, 1 P. said : " Edge of card's going a dark
colour. Somebody dressed up in white, eh ? Can see some-
thing all white ; edge all black, and like a figure in the middle.
There's his hands up" (making a gesture to show the attitude)
"like a ghost or somethingyou couldn't mistake it for any-
thing but a ghost. It's not getting any better, it's fading no,
it's still there. It might frighten any one." He also made
remarks about the difficulty of seeing a white figure on a white
card (the blank card he was looking at was white), which Mr.
Smith afterwards said corresponded with his own ideas.

Subject; A vase with flowers. (Mr. Smith, still behind P.,
was looking at a blue flower-pot in the window containing an
indiarubber plant.) P. said : " I see something round, like a
round ring. I can see some straight things from the round
thing. I think it's a glass it goes up. I'll tell you what it is ; it
must be a pot a flower-pot, you know, with things growing in
it. I only guessed that, because you don't see things growing
out of a glass. It's not clear at the top yet. You see something
going up and you can't see the top, because of the edge of the
paper it's cut off. I don't wonder, because it's no good wonder-
ing what Mr. Smith does, he does such funny things. I should
fancy it might be a geranium, but there's only sticks, so you
can't tell." Mrs. Sidgwick: "What colour is the pot?" P. :
" Dark colour, between terra-cotta and red dark red you'd
call it." Here the somewhat confused impression, apparently
corresponding to the struggle of ideas in Mr. Smith's mind
between what he was seeing and what he was trying to think of,
is an interesting point. 2

In all 50 trials were made with P., 26 with agent
and percipient in the same room, 24. with agent and
percipient in different rooms. Of the former 14 were
successful, of the latter only one. In the 35 unsuccess-
ful experiments no impression at all was received in
14 cases, 7 of which occurred while agent and per-
cipient were in the same room.

Two trials with Whybrew are worth quoting as
illustrating the gradual development of the impression.

1 This was an idea extremely familiar to P., who had been a
chorister and was still connected with the choir of his church.
a Proceedings Soc. Psych. Research^ vol. viii. pp. 565, 566,

78 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

The percipient's eyes were closed during these
experiments. The first was made on July nth.

No. 17.

Subject : A man riding. Mr. Smith downstairs with Miss
Johnson ; Whybrew, upstairs with Mrs. Sidgwick, said, after
some remarks on the former pictures : " There's another one
I think it's like the other two a puzzle [to see] if I can
find the picture. I hope I'll be able to see it properly. A kind
of a square square shadow blowed if I can understand what
it's meant for I don't know what to make out of that. I don't
know if that's meant to be the lower part of a pair of legs. Do
you see a picture?" Mrs. Sidgwick : " I see something." Why-
brew " I see them two spots, but I don't know what to make
of them. If they're legs, the body ought to come. Don't seem
to come any brighter, but there's those two things there, that
look like a pair of legs." Here Mr. Smith was asked to come
upstairs and talk to him. He told him the picture was coming
up closer and that he had turned the gas on to make it brighter.
Whybrew: "There's them pair of legs there." Mr. Smith:
"Yes" (doubtfully). Whybrew: "Why, there's another. I
never see that other pair before. Why, it's a horse. I expect
it's like them penny pictures that you fold over. That horse
that's plain enough ; but what's that other thing ?" Mr. Smith :
"Yes, I told you there was something else. 3; Whybrew ; " Why,
I see what it is now it's supposed to be a man there, I expect."
Mr. Smith : "Yes." Whybrew: "Riding him. But that ain't so
good as the boy and the ball." Mrs. Sidgwick . " How is the
man dressed ?" Whybrew: "Ordinary."

The second took place on July i6th, 1891.

Mr. Smith having hypnotised Whybrew, sat by him, but
did not speak to him at all after he knew the subject a man
with a barrow of Jish given him by Mrs. Sidgwick. Miss
Johnson, not knowing what the subject was, carried on the
conversation with Whybrew. He said: "It's the shape of a
man. Yes, there's a man there. Don't know him. He looks like
a bloke that sells strawberries." Miss Johnson asked : "Are there
strawberries there ? " Whybrew . " That looks like his barrow
there. What's he selling of? I believe he's sold out. I can't
see anything on his barrow perhaps he's sold out. There
ain't many a few round things. I expect they're fruit. Are
they cherries ? They look a bit red. Aren't they fish ? It don't
look very much like fish. If they're fish, some of them hasn't
got any heads on. Barrow is a bit fishified it has a tray on.
What colour are those things on the barrow? They looked red,

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STATE. 79

but now they look silvery." He was rather pleased with this
picture and asked afterwards if it was for sale.

Of 1 8 experiments with Whybrew 6 were successful.
Of the 12 failures, 8 occurred when agent and per-
cipient were in separate rooms. There were only two
cases in which no impression was received one with
the agent in the same room.

Seven trials were made with Major, of which I was
completely and 2 partially successful. Subjoined is
the record of the only complete success, which occurred
on July 8th, 1891. The percipient was hypnotised
and his eyes were closed ; Mr. Smith sat by him, talk-
ing to him and telling him that he was to see a
picture.

No. 1 8.

The subject given was a mouse in a mouse-trap. Regard-
ing- himself as a man of culture and being generally anxious to
exhibit this, Major asked if it was to be an old master or a
modern "pot-boiler." He was told the latter, and he then dis-
coursed on "pot-boilers" and how he knew all the subjects of
them mentioning two or three in a very contemptuous manner.
He did not seem "to sec anything, however, and appeared to be
expecting to see an artist producing a rapid sketch. Then, when
told that the picture was actually there, he suddenly exclaimed :
"Do you mean that deuced old trap with a mouse? He must
have been drawing for the rat vermin people."

Thirty-two trials were made with T., of which only
four were successful two completely, one partially,
one completely, but deferred i.e., the subject of the
preceding experiment, a black dog, came before his
vision after the agent had already passed to another sub-
ject, the Eiffel Tower. T. had, of course, not been told
the subject of the previous experiment. Instances of
deferred impressions of this kind occurred also with
Miss B. A few experiments were tried with another
percipient, a man named Adams, but without success ;
his own imagination appeared to be so fertile that any
telepathic impression must have been crowded out.

An analysis of the impressions showed that most of

80 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

them were reproductions of objects familiar to the
percipient, in certain cases of hallucinations previously
imposed upon them in the course of these or other
experiments. With some of the successful percipients
these spontaneous impressions showed a marked tend-
ency to recur. Thus P, had a wrong impression
of an elephant no less than four times in the course
of the experiments; and T. of a woman and a peram-
bulator three times. One of these coincided with the
subject actually set, and the coincidence may perhaps
therefore be attributed to chance. Speaking gener-
ally, however, this tendency to repetition amongst
the percipient's native impressions constitutes an addi-
tional argument, if any such is needed, for attributing
the frequent coincidences of the impression with the
subject set to some other cause than the automatic
association of ideas.

An instance of a quasi-experimental character,
which closely resembles the cases above described,
is recorded by Dr, A. Gibotteau : 1

No, 19. By DR. GIBOTTEAU.

" Madame P. complained of headache. I placed my hand
upon her forehead, and in a few minutes she was in a light
hypnotic sleep. Without deepening the trance I endeavoured
to give her a sensation of calm and well-being, and to procure
this sensation for myself in the first place, I called up a picture
of the sea, in which air and water were full of sunlight. ' I
feel a little better,' she said ; 'how fresh the air is !' I then
proceeded to imagine myself walking along the Boulevard Saint
Michel^ in a slight rain. I saw the hurrying people and the
umbrellas. * How strange it is ! ' said Madame P. ; ' I seem
to be at the corner of the Boulevard Saint Michel and the
Rue des fecoles, in front of the Cafe 1 Vachette ' (the exact spot I
pictured) ; * it is raining, there are a great many people, a
hurrying crowd. They are all going up the street, and I with
them. The air is very fresh. It gives me a pleasant, restful
feeling/ With these words she opened her eyes and gave me
further confirmation of her impressions.

" I should add that this scene took place in the provinces j I

1 Annales des Sciences PsyMques, vol. ii. pp. 334, 335.

TRANSFERENCE IN HYPNOTIC STAtE. &t

had not been in Paris for some months, nor Madame P. for
several years.

"There had been no mention of the subject in the course tff
our conversation that day."

It will be seen that Dr. Gibotteau attempted to
transfer to the percipient only the general sensation
of calm and rest induced in himself by the imagined
scene, and that the success obtained was therefore of
a kind by no means anticipated.

Another experiment of the same nature is recorded
by Dr. Blair Thaw in the article already referred to
(p. 31). The percipient was Mrs. Thaw, Dr. Thaw
and Mr. Wyatt were the agents. We are not told
whether in this instance, as on some other occasions,
the percipient was actually hypnotised, but judging
from previous experiments it may perhaps be inferred
that she was at least in a condition called by Dr.
Thaw " a passive state," not easy to distinguish from
the lighter stages of sleep-waking. The experiment
took place on the 28th April 1892.

No. 20. By DR. BLAIR THAW.

ist Scene. Locomotive running away without engineer tears
up station. Missed.

2nd Scene. The first real FLYING MACHINE going over
Madison Square Tower, and the people watching. Percipient :
/ see lots of people. Crowds are going to war. They are so
excited. Are they throwing water? (Percipient said after-
wards she thought it was a fire and that was the reason of the
crowd.) Or sailors pulling at ropes. Agent said, "What are
they doing ? " Percipient : They are all looking up. It is a
balloon or some one in trouble up there. Agent said, " Why
balloon ? " Percipient : They are all looking up. Agent said,
" I thought of a possible scene in the future." Percipient : <9//,
ifs the first man flying. ThaVs what hds doing up there.
Agent : " Where is it ? " Percipient : In the city.

An account of a similar instance of the transfer to
a hypnotised percipient of an imagined scene has
been recorded by Mr. E. M. Clissold and Mr. Auberon
Herbert 1

i See Phantasms of the Living^ vol. ii. pp. 677, 678.

6

82

CHAPTER IV.

EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS AND
OTHER EFFECTS.

IN the two preceding chapters we have discussed
experiments where the impression received by the
percipient may be interpreted as having been a more
or less accurate reproduction of the sensation ex-
perienced by the agent, or at most a translation of it
into some other simple sensation. There have now
to be considered various cases in which the trans-
mission of thought is productive of other results in
the percipient than the simple duplication or trans-
lation of a sensation. The most usual case is where
the telepathic impulse leads to some action on the
part of the percipient. It was frequently stated by
the older mesmerists 1 that the operator, by a silent
act of will, could induce a good subject to do or
refrain from doing some prescribed or customary
action. Isolated observations on such a point are
little likely to compel belief; the vanity or the
credulity of the recorder may be supposed to have
led to his overlooking the negative instances, and
attributing to his own peculiar gifts a result in reality
due to chance. But, following on the clue thus

1 Cases are recorded in the Zoist and other publications of the period.
See the instances, quoted in Phantasms of the Living^ vol. i. pp. 89*
91, of the Rev. J. Lawson Sisson, Mr. Barth, Mr. N. Dunscombe, and
Mr. H. S. Thompson. Traditions of the marvels wrought by the last-
named gentleman still linger in Yorkshire society, and will no doubt
demand the serious attention of future students of folk-lore*

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS. 83

obtained, the Committee on Mesmerism appointed
by the S.P.R. in 1882, to some of whose work
reference has already been made (Chapter III., p. 60),
succeeded in obtaining results less open to question.

Inhibition of Action by Silent Willing.

The first experiments of the kind were conducted
on our friend Mr. Sidney Beard, who was for some
time an Associate of the Society and took an active
interest in its work. Mr. Beard, who was easily
hypnotised, would be entranced by Mr. Smith, and
sit in a chair with closed eyes. Then, to quote the
account of a single experiment, a list of twelve
Yeses and Noes in arbitrary order was written by
one of ourselves and put into Mr. Smith's hand, with
directions that he should successively will the subject
to respond or not to respond, in accordance with the
list. A tuning-fork was then struck and held at
Mr. Beard's ear, and the question, "Do you hear?"
was asked by one of ourselves. This was done
twelve times in succession, Mr. Beard answering or
failing to answer on each occasion in accordance with
the " yes " or " no w of the written list that is to say,
with the silent will of the agent. Similar trials on
other occasions with Mr. Beard were equally success-
ful. The percipient's own account of the matter is
as follows: "During the experiments of January 1st
[1883], when Mr. Smith mesmerised me, I did not lose
consciousness at any time, but only experienced a
sensation of total numbness in my limbs. When the
trial as to whether I could hear sounds was made
I heard the sounds distinctly each time, but in a
large number of instances I felt totally unable to
acknowledge that I heard them. I seemed to know
each time whether Mr. Smith wished me to say that
I heard them; and as I had surrendered my will to his
at the commencement of the experiment, I was unable
to reassert my power of volition whilst under his

84 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

influence." (Proceedings of the Soc. Psych. Research,
vol. i. p. 256.)

No. 2i. By PROFESSOR BARRETT,

Further trials of the same kind were carried on
in November 1883 by Professor Barrett, at his own
house in Dublin. The hypnotist and agent was
again Mr. G. A. Smkh, the percipient a youth
named Fearnley, a stranger to Mr. Smith. In the
first series of trials Professor Barrett asked Fearnley,
" Now will you open your hand ? " at the same time
pointing to " Yes " or " No," written on a card, and
held in sight of Mr. Smith, but out of view from
the percipient. Mr. Smith, who was not in contact
with the subject, directed his silent will in accord-
ance with the written indication. In twenty experi-
ments conducted under these conditions there were
only three failures Later, to quote Professor Barrett,

"The experiment was varied as follows: The word 'Yes*
was written on one, and the word ' No ' on the other, of two
precisely similar pieces of card. One or other of these cards
was handed to Mr. Smith at my arbitrary pleasure, care of
course being taken that the ' subject' had no opportunity of
seeing the card, even had he been awake. When ' Yes ' was
handed Mr. Smith was silently to will the ' subject ' to answer
aloud in response to the question asked by me, ' Do you hear
me?' When < No' was handed Mr. Smith was to will that no
response should be made in reply to the same quesiion. The
object of this series of experiments was to note the effect of
increasing the distance between the wilier and the willed, the
agent and the percipient. In the first instance Mr. Smith was
placed three feet from the ' subject,' who remained throughout
apparently asleep in an arm-chair in one corner of my study.

"At three feet apart, 25 trials were successively made, and in
every case the * subject' responded or did not respond in exact
accordance with the silent will of Mr. Smith, as directed by me.

" At 6 feet apart six similar trials were made without a single
failure.

"At 12 feet apart six more trials were made without a single
failure.

"At 17 feet apart six more trials were made without a single
failure.

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS. 8$

"In this last case Mr. Smith had to be placed outside the
study door, which was then closed with the exception of a
narrow chink just wide enough to admit of passing a card in
or out, whilst I remained in the study observing the 'subject.'
To avoid any possible indication from the tone in which I asked
the question, in all cases except the first dozen experiments, I
shuffled the cards face downwards, and then handed the un-
known 'Yes' or 'No' to Mr. Smith, who looked at the card
and willed accordingly. I noted down the result, and then, and
not till then, looked at the card.

"A final experiment was made when Mr. Smith was taken
across the hall and placed in the dining-room, at a distance
of about 30 feet from the * subject,' two doors, both quite
closed, intervening. Under these conditions, three trials were
made with success, the 'Yes' response being, however, very
faint and hardly audible to me, who returned to the study to
ask the usual question after handing the card to the distant
operator. At this point, the 'subject' fell into a deep sleep,
and made no further replies to the questions addressed to him."

Further trials were made under different condi-
tions, the results being almost uniformly successful.

In interpreting these results there is no justifica-
tion for assuming direct control by the agent over
the organism of the percipient. Nor does the current
phrase, endorsed as it is in the first case by the per-
cipient himself, that the operator's will dominated the
will of the subject, give an adequate account of the
matter. When, as in the case of experiments pre-
viously described, the percipient's impression repro-
duces the sensation of the agent, there is nothing to
indicate that the impulse transferred directly affects
the external organs, or even the intermediate sensory
centres. In the absence of any direct evidence it is
at least equally probable that the higher brain centres
only are concerned in the transmission in the first
instance, and that the transmitted idea is reflected
downwards, until it actually assumes, as in some of
the experiments recorded with P. and Miss B., the
form of a sensory hallucination. Upon this view no
fundamental distinction need be drawn between the
results before described and those now under discus-
sion. In the latter case the question is not one of

86 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

transference of will or of a motor or inhibitory
impulse. What is actually transferred from the
agent is probably only a simple idea. Its subse-
quent translation into action, or the inhibition of
action, is as much the work of the percipient's mincl
as, in the other case, the transformation of the idea of
a number into a visual hallucination. As regards the
particular effect produced, it must be remembered
that the prime characteristic of the hypnotic state
is its openness to suggestion, and especially to
suggestion coming through a particular channel. It
is the establishment of this suggestible state, which
consists essentially in the suppression of the control-
ling faculties which normally pass judgment on the
suggestions received from without, and select those
which are to find response in action, that Mr. Beard
describes as the surrender of his will. So that when
Mr. Beard answered our questions he did what his
natural courtesy led him to do ; when he maintained
silence his tendency to respond to the stimulus of
our questions was momentarily overcome by the
stronger stimulus of the idea received from the
agent. But the superior efficacy of the idea so
transferred resulted not from any impulsive quality
in the idea itself, but from the previously established
relations between agent and percipient. The fact that
experiments of this kind have rarely succeeded in the
waking state is no doubt due to the inferior suggesti-
bility of that state,

Actions originated by Silent Willing.

In the paper already referred to (supra, p. 31) Dr.
Blair Thaw records some experiments which present
us with a modification of the Willing Game, but with-
out contact. In most of the experiments the person
who was willed to perform a certain action the
nature of which had been previously communicated
to the other experimenters in writing was in the

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS. 8/

same room as the agents. But the agents did not
follow the percipient about the room, nor did the
percipient look at the agents for guidance. The
percipient appears to have been awake throughout
the experiments, but it seems probable that her
condition was not that of complete normal wake-
fulness.

Of 26 experiments conducted under such con-
ditions, i o were completely and 12 partially success-
ful. When, however, as in this case, there are
several agents, all of whom are actually watching the
movements of the percipient, it is impossible to feel
convinced that no indication by the movements of the
eyes or by breathing was given to the percipient to
show her whether or not she was moving in the right
direction. In the last four trials of the series, how-
ever, the percipient was willed to fetch an object from
another room which was out of sight from the agents,
and it is difficult to conceive that any indication could
have been given to her of the object selected.

No. 22. By DR. BLAIR THAW.

April ^th, 1892.

Mrs. Thaw, Percipient. Mr. M. H. Wyatt and Dr. Thaw,
Agents. In the next four experiments an object was selected
in another room, and then the percipient sent in for it. No
clue was given as to what part of the room.

\st Object Selected. A WOODEN CUPID, from a corner-piece
in room with eight other objects on it. Percipient first brought
a photo from the lower shelf of corner-piece, then said : " It's the
wooden Cupid."

ind Object. MATCH-BOX on mantel. Percipient seemed
confused at first and brought two photos, then said : " It's the
brass match-box on mantel."

yd Object. A VELLUM BOOK on table, among twenty other
books, chosen ; but a bag under one window was thought of
first. Percipient went to table, put her hand on the book, then
went to the bag and took it up, then back to the table and took
the vellum book and then the bag, and appeared with both.
Percipient was in sight of agents during this timCj but did not
see them.

88 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

tfh Object. BOOK on small table, among ten others.
Missed.

In commenting on these experiments, Dr. Thaw is
himself inclined to attribute some of the results to
" an indistinct motor impulse of some kind, leading
the percipient near the object." But in the experi-
ments above recorded, at any rate, it is sufficient,
probably, to suppose the transference of the idea of
the object.

Experiments of a somewhat similar nature are
recorded by Dr. Ochorowicz (La Suggestion mentale,
pp. 84-1 17). The subject in this case, Madame M., was
sunk in the deep hypnotic state (Tetat aidtique), a
condition in which she would usually remain motion-
less until aroused by the doctor. Under these cir-
cumstances Dr. Ochorowicz conducted upwards of
forty experiments in conveying mental commands,
a large proportion of which were executed by the
subject with more or less exactness. These trials
have the drawback above indicated, common to all
experiments of the kind with the agent in the same
room ; moreover, each experiment appears to have
extended over a considerable period, and the com-
mand e.g., to rise from the chair and hand a cake
from the table to Dr. Ochorowicz was frequently
executed in stages. In judging of the results, how-
ever, it should be remembered that Dr. Ochorowicz
has elsewhere shown himself to be acute in criticism
and accurate in observation.

Some experiments made by Dr. Gibert on Madame
B., and recorded by Professor Pierre Janet, 1 seem
open to a similar objection. Dr. Gibert communicated
the mental command by touching Madame B.'s fore-
head with his own whilst concentrating his thoughts
on the ideas to be conveyed. It is difficult to feel
sure that the success of the experiment under such
conditions was not due to the command having been

1 Bulletin dt la Sot. dc Psychologie Physiologique, 1885.

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS. 89

unconsciously muttered by Dr. Gibert within the
hearing of the percipient In the following account,
however, thought-transference would seem to be the
simplest explanation of the results. The narrator,
unfortunately, remains anonymous ; he is, however,
personally known to Dr. Dariex, the editor of the
periodical from which the account is extracted, and
the experiments were obviously conducted with care. 1
In this case it seems clear, since the command, though
understood, was on more than one occasion disobeyed,
that the idea telepathically intruded into the per-
cipient's mind was not necessarily associated with an
impulse to action.

No. 23. By J. H, P.

[On the 6th December 1887], having placed M. in a deep
trance, I turned my back upon her, and, without any gesture or
sound whatever, gave her the following mental order :

" When you wake up you are to go and fetch a glass, put a
few drops of Eau de Cologne into it, and bring it to me."

On waking up, M. was visibly preoccupied; she could not
keep still, and at last came and placed herself in front of me,
exclaiming

u What an idea to put in my head ! "

" Why do you speak so to me ? "

" Because the idea that I have got can only come from you,
and I don't wish to obey."

" Don't obey unless you like ; but I wish you to tell me at
once what you are thinking of."

" Well, then, I was to go and look for a glass, put some water
in it, with spine drops of Eau de Cologne, and take it to you ;
it is really ridiculous."

My order had then been perfectly understood for the first
time. From that moment, December 6th, 1887, till to-day,
with only two or three exceptions, the mental transmission,
whether ia the waking or sleeping state, has been most vivid.
It is only disturbed at certain times, or when M. is feeling very
anxious.

On the loth of December 1887, unknown to M., I hid a watch,
that was not going, behind some books in my bookcase. When
she arrived I put her to sleep, and gave her the following mental
command :

1 Annales des Sciences P$ychiques> voL iii. pp. 130-133.

9O APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE,

"Go and fetch me the watch that is hidden behind some
books in the bookcase."

I sat in my armchair with M. behind me, and was careful not
to look in the direction where the object was hidden.

M. suddenly got up from her armchair and went straight to
the bookcase, but could not open it ; making energetic move-
ments the while, whenever she touched the door, and especially
the glass.

" It is there ! it is there ! I am certain ; but this glass burns
me 1 "

I decided to open it myself; she rushed at my books, took
them out, and seized the watch, delighted to have found it.

Similar trials have been made with commands that one of
my friends passed to me, written beforehand, and not in the
presence of the subject, and the success has been complete ;
but if the person who passes me the order is unknown to her,
she refuses to obey, saying that the command is not mine.

M. N., who was convinced that mental transmission is a
fraud, assured me that I should never be able to transmit an
order from him to M.

I invited him to come to my house, at five o'clock in the
evening, with a command written, which he was to give me
only when M. was asleep, and outside my study.

At 5.10 N. arrived and we went out, leaving M. in a trance ;
when we were separated from my study by the two intervening
rooms, with all the doors shut, N. pulled out a small paper and
said

" You will read this command, we will both come back to M.,
and without any gestures, you will communicate it to her."

" Certainly."

In the note was written, " Give the mental command to M.
to count out loud from 5 to I ; 5, 4, 3, 2, I."

We came back to my study ; I sat at my desk as usual I
am in the habit of making notes during the progress of the
experiments, so as to report them with scrupulous accuracy
and I sent N.'s mental command, while pretending to write.
M. suddenly exclaimed

" Doubtless, you imagine that I cannot count 1 I can count
from I to 50,000, if I wish."

Mental command " Count from 5 to I."

" No, I will not obey a strange command ; it is not a com-
mand of yours."

All my efforts were useless ; we had to abandon the experi-
ment. The command was certainly understood ; but M. N.
retired, convinced that it had not been understood, and that
even the trance was a sham !

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENT& QI

Automatic Writing.

Sometimes the working of the telepathic impulse is
of a more apparently mysterious kind. We have seen
that Mr. Beard was fully conscious of the action of a
restraining force; and Mrs. Thaw, who was in a con-
dition little if at all removed from the normal, appears
also to have been aware of what she was doing, if
perhaps without explicit recognition of her motives at
the time of performing the prescribed actions. But in
the various cases now to be described the telepathic
impulse seems never to have affected the normal
consciousness of the percipient at all ; and the results
produced through the agency of his organism were
due to no recognised volition on his part. The intel-
ligence directing his hand was an intelligence working
below and apart from his ordinary life.

Now this subterranean intelligence presents many
points of analogy with the secondary consciousness of
the hypnotic subject ; in both states we find indica-
tions of thought and will distinct from those of
waking life, and of a memory not shared with that
life. Moreover, it has been shown experimentally,
by Mr. Edmund Gurney, 1 Professor Pierre Janet, 2 and
others, that the consciousness which makes itself
known through planchette is, in certain persons at
any rate, identical with the consciousness found in
the hypnotic trance, so far as the test of a common
memory can be relied upon to prove identity. The
superior susceptibility to telepathic influences, already
referred to, of the hypnotic subject, may perhaps,
therefore, in the light of these later experiments, be
found to indicate a superior susceptibility of those
parts of the brain whose workings lie below the
ordinary consciousness, and reveal themselves only in
the activities of trance and automatism.

1 See the account of his experiments on " Peculiarities of certain
Post-hypnotic States," Proc. S.JP.JR., vol. iv. pp. 268-323.
1 " L Automatisme Psychologique."

92 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

The following is an illustrative case. The account
is derived from contemporary notes, made by the late
Mr. P. H. Newnham, Vicar of Maker, Devonport, of
a series of experiments conducted by himself and his
wife during eight months in 1 87 1. 1 Mr. Newnham
would write, in a book kept for the purpose, a question
of the purport of which Mrs. Newnham was in ignor-
ance; and Mrs. Newnham, holding her hand on a
planchette, would write an answer to the question.
The conditions of the experiments are described by
Mr. Newnham, in an account written in 1884, as
follows :

No. 24.

" My wife always sat at a small low table, in a low chair,
leaning backwards. I sat about eight feet distant, at a
rather higher table, and with my back towards her while writ-
ing down the questions. It was absolutely impossible that any
gesture, or play of features, on my part, could have been visible
or intelligible to her. As a rule she kept her eyes shut; but
never became in the slightest degree hypnotic, or even naturally
drowsy."

In all 309 questions with their answers were recorded
under these conditions, before the experiments were
finally abandoned on account of their prejudicial
effect on Mrs. Newnham's health. The extracts from
Mr. Newnham's note-book given below show that
Mrs. Newnham throughout had some kind of know-
ledge, not always apparently complete, of the terms of
the question. 2 But she was not herself consciously
aware of the purport either of the question or of the
answer written through her hand.

January 2gth.
13. Is it the operator's brain, or some external force, that

moves the Planchette ? Answer "brain " or "force."
A. Will.

1 Proc. Soc. Psych. Research, vol. iii. pp. 6-23.

2 Mr. Newnham explains that " five or six questions were often
asked consecutively without her being told of the subject that was being
pursued."

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS. 93

14. Is it the will of a living person, or of an immaterial spirit,

distinct from that person? Answer " person" or
" spirit."
A. Wife.

15. Give first the wife's Christian name; then, my favourite

name for her. (This was accurately done.)

27. What is your own name ?
A. Only you.

28. We are not quite sure of the meaning of the answer.

Explain.
A. Wife.

Failing to get more than this at the outset, we returned to
the same thought after question 114 ; when, having been closely
presbed on another subject, we received the curt reply " Told
all I know."

February \%lh.

117. Who are you that writes, and has told all you know ?
A. Wife.

1 18. But does no one tell wife what to write? If so, who?
A. Spirit.

119. Whose spirit?
A. Wife's brain.

1 20. But how does wife's brain know (certain) secrets ?
A. Wife's spirit unconsciously guides.

121. But how does wife's spirit know things it has never been

told?
A, No external influence.

122. But by what internal influence does it know (these)

secrets ?
A. You cannot know.

Mr. Newnham, who was a Mason, took the oppor-
tunity on several occasions of questioning the
planchette on details of the Masonic ritual and
archaeology of which Mrs. Newnham was of course
ignorant with very surprising results. It will be
seen from the extracts which follow that Mrs.
Newnham's answers showed not only an acquaint-
ance with the terms of the question, but even a
fragmentary knowledge of the correct answer know-
ledge which under the circumstances could hardly
have been derived elsewhere than from the questioner's
brain.

94 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

March 26th.

166. Of what language is the first syllable of the Great Triple

R. A. Word ? l
A. Don't know.

167. Yes, you do. What are the three languages of which

the word is composed ?

A. Greek, Egyptian, Syriac first syllable (correctly given\
rest unknown.

168. Write the syllable which is Syriac.
A. (First syllable correctly written.)

169. Write the syllable which is Egyptian.
A. Second.

170. Can you not write the syllable itself?
A. Third Greek.

174. Write down the word itself.

A. First three and last two letters were written correctly,
but four incorrect letters, partly borrowed from another
word of the same degree, came in the middle.

176. Why do you write a word of which I know nothing ?

A. Wife tried hard to tell the word, but could not quite
catch it.

177. Catch it from whom ?
A. Not quite sure.

178. Not quite sure of what ?

A. I know nothing. Wife doesn't quite know.
182. Write out the prayer used at the advancement of a
Mark Master Mason.

A. Almighty Ruler of the Universe and Architect of all
worlds, we beseech Thee to accept this, our brother,
whom we have this day received into our most honour-
able Company of Mark Master Masons. Grant him to
be a worthy member of our brotherhood ; and may he
be in his own person a perfect mirror of all Masonic'
virtues. Grant that all our doings may be to Thy
honour and glory, and to the welfare of all mankind.

This prayer was written off instantaneously and very rapidly.
It is a very remarkable production indeed. For the benefit of
those who are not members of the craft, I may say that no
prayer in the slightest degree resembling it is made use of in the
Ritual of any Masonic degree ; and yet it contains more than
one strictly accurate technicality connected with the degree of
Mark Mason. My wife has never seen any Masonic prayers,

1 Previous questions had been asked on the same subject, and the
first syllable had already been correctly written. On a subsequent
occasion the same question was repeated and a wholly incorrect answer
was given.

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS. 95

whether in " Carlile," or any other real or spurious Ritual of
the Masonic Order.

183. I do not know this prayer. Where is it to be found ?
A. Old American Ritual.

184. Where can I get one?

A. Most likely none in England.

185. Can you not write the prayer that I make use of in my

own Lodge ?
A. No, I don't know it.

We have to remark here not merely the exhibition
of a will and an intelligence differing from the writer's
normal self, but the display of a yet more alien dis-
ingenuousness. Similar evasions and inventions occur
more than once ii\ the course of these experiments.
Indeed, a certain degree of moral perversity is a
frequent and notorious characteristic of automatic
expression.

Some interesting experiments of the same kind were
conducted, in the winter of 1892-93, by Mr. R. H.
Buttemer, of Emanuel College, Cambridge, and Mr.
H. T, Green. Throughout the series the questions
were, as in the preceding case, written down, so that
the percipient was completely ignorant of their
purport The following is the record of the last
experiments of the series.

No. 25, By MR. R. H. BUTTEMER.

February i8th, 1893, 8 P.M. Mrs. H., Miss B., Mr. and Miss
M. present, in addition to Mr. Green, and Messrs. S., W., and
Buttemer.

Mr. Green, as usual, operated Planchette, and on this occasion
sat with his back to all the other persons present.

Q. (from Mr. M.): What was I doing this afternoon?

A, i. the sun (all else illegible), ii. Enjoying the

fresh air of heaven.

Q. What was Mr. Rogers doing in Cambridge ?

A. i. (Irrelevant, or possibly connected vaguely with the
question.) ii. Ask another, but Mr. Rogers came up on im-
portant business connected with the Lodge. (Correct.)

96 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Q. Where has Mrs. M. gone ?

A. i. (Irrelevant.) ii. Far, far away, but more next time,
iii. Her mother has gone to oh, what a happy place is London !
iv. All change here for Bletchlcy. (Mrs. M. had possibly
passed this station on her journey.)

Q. Who has won the Association Match to-day?

A. i. (Illegible.) ii. O ye simple ones, how long will yc love
simplicity? Why, Oxford, of course. [This fact was known to
some persons in the room, but not to Mr. Green.]

One of the company then suggested the attempt to get the
name on a visiting card transmitted, and the question was
written, "Write name on card." Mr. Green did not know that this
experiment was about to be tried, and the card was picked from
a pile at random. The name was John B Bourne. A sentence
was written by Mr. Green, which proved to be, "Think of one
letter at a time and then see what will happen." We did so.

A. i. J for Jerusalem, O for Omri, H for Honey, and N for
Nothing, ii. B for Benjamin, O for Olive, U for Unicorn.
(The remaining letters were given incorrectly.)

Q. How many of the Society's books are here? (There were
two volumes of Proceedings on the table.)

A. i. (Irrelevant.) ii. The answer is 100-98.

Q. What is 2 x 3 ?

Two irrelevant answers were given, possibly owing to a
slight disturbance in the room. The third answer was
" When that noise has ceased and S, has finished knocking
the lamp over, I say 6."

A trial shortly after this, February iQth, gave no results,
and the power of automatic writing appears to have entirely
left Mr. Green for the present. (Proc. Soc. Psych. Research, vol.
ix. pp. 61-64.)

In this, as in Mr, Newnham's case, the mode of
expression is again characteristic of the automatic
consciousness. It is explained by Mr. Buttemer that
when two or more answers are given, the operator
had been simply told to write again, after the first
irrelevant answer, without being shown the question.

Table Tilting.

No. 26. By the AUTHOR.

We pass on to experiments in which the ideas trans-
mitted from the agent find other subterranean channels

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS. 97

in the percipient's organism for their expression. Of
all forms of intelligent automatism writing, next to
speaking, is probably in an educated percipient the
easiest, because in normal life the commonest In
the cases, therefore, recorded below the actual move-
ments involved, though of a relatively simple kind, as
being unaccustomed called possibly for the exercise
of a degree of mental activity as high as would have
been the case had writing been the vehicle of expres-
sion. In the preceding chapter it was recorded, in
the experiments with numbers, that some of the
answers were given through the movements of a
table on which the percipient's hands rested (p. 73).
A series of experiments of this nature was made by
the writer in November and December 1873, with
the assistance of a few friends, amongst whom were
Mr. F. H. Colson, now Head Master of Plymouth
College, and the Rev. W, E. Smith, of Gorton, near
Lowestoft The following is a description of the
methods adopted. Three or four of us would sit
round a small centre-legged table, cane-bottomed
chair, waste-paper basket, or metal tripod, with our
hands resting on it. We found that in a few minutes
the table (or other instrument) would tilt on one side,
or move round and round, with considerable freedom.
When these motions had once been fairly established,
one or two of those present in the room would retire
to a distance, keeping their backs to the table, and
think of a letter of the alphabet. The table would
move freely up and down, under the varying pressure
of the hands laid on it, in a succession of small tilts.
Those sitting at the table would count the tilts one
tilt standing for A, two for B, three for C, and so on.
Excluding second trials, there were 70 experiments
conducted under these conditions. The right letter
was tilted in 27 cases, and in two others the next
succeeding letter was given. On some occasions the
proportion of successes was much higher ; thus, on
the 28th November, out of a total of 16 trials, 10

7

98 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE,

were correct. On the ist December, on the other
hand, 10 trials were made without any success. It
was the rule throughout that the agents should stand
with their, backs to the table at some distance from it,
and after the first few experiments we found, or
thought we found, that the thought-transference suc-
ceeded best with a single agent. In order that the
letter might not be guessed from the context, we
generally took the initial or initial and final letters
only of a word ; in four cases only did the agent
select as many as three consecutive letters of a word.
If the letters had been arbitrarily chosen, the chances
against the right letters being indicated would be
25 to I. But as the letters actually selected were in
most cases constituent parts of a word, generally the
initial letter, and as in some cases two or three
consecutive letters were selected, the adverse chances
would be reduced, roughly speaking, to something
like 15 to i. But even so the results attained arc
sufficiently striking. 1

In these experiments the percipient or percipients
themselves counted the tilts ; and it is probable that
occasionally one or other of those seated at the table
half-consciously guided its movements in conformity
with his own ideas of what the letter would be.
But in a modified form of the experiment, introduced
by Professor Richet, the percipients, two or three in
number, were seated at one table and a printed
alphabet was placed on another table behind the
percipients and out of their range of vision. When

1 There were nine sittings in all, but the records of one were im-
perfectly kept, and have not been preserved. In two cases the details
given are insufficient ; in the notes of the first evening it is stated that
the person seated at the table "failed three or four times, succeeded
once in giving word of (i.e., selected from) newspaper (which agent)
held in his hand." These trials have been omitted altogether from the
results given in the text. On the third evening there is a record,
"gave S H but got wrong afterwards." The word thought of was
Sherry. I have counted this trial as two successes and two failures,
judging from the other experiments recorded that not more than four
consecutive letters at most would have been attempted*

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS. 99

the first table tilted, 1 under the automatic movements
of the hands resting on it, it caused a bell to ring.
M. Richet or some other experimenter sat at the
second table and drew a pen slowly backwards and
forwards over the printed alphabet. The letters to
which the pen was pointing when the bell rang were
noted, and it was found that they made up intelligible
words and sentences, provided that in some cases the
next letter or the next but one were substituted for
that actually given. 2 All necessary precautions were
taken that the alphabet should be out of sight of the
" mediums," who were in most cases personal friends
of M. Richet, and whose good faith was, he believes,
in all cases unimpeachable. Subjoined is an account
of the results obtained on one evening. M. Richet
appears from the account to have been one of those
seated at the tilting table.-

No. 27. By PROFESSOR RICHET.

" On the 9th of November we took the same precautions, but
used an ordinary alphabet, not the circular one. s The name of
the * spirit ' who came to the table was given as V I L L O N.

1 In this case it will be observed the table tilted only once for each
letter. The method adopted (after trial of the alternative) in my own
experiments, though slower and more cumbrous, was apparently pro-
ductive of more accurate results. It will be readily understood that it
might be easier for the transmitted impulse to check a movement, at
once uncertain and spasmodic, which had been already initiated, than
to overcome, in a short space of time, the resistance of inertia and
generate a new movement. The distinction may perhaps be illustrated
by the difference between the amount of force required to start a
railway truck at rest on the level, and that which would suffice to arrest
one actually in gentle motion.

2 Of course substitutions of this kind considerably reduce the value
of the results obtained, but it will be found that when full deduction
has been made on this score, the coincidences remain overwhelmingly
in excess of anything which could have been produced by chance.

3 In some previous experiments a circular alphabet had been used,
with a view of preventing any of those seated at the first table from
learning by the movements of the operator's hand what point of the
alphabet he had reached. The other precautions described seemed,
however, as M. Richet points out, sufficient to exclude all considerations
of this kind*

100 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Then we made a great noise, we repeated poetry, sang, and
counted to such good purpose that P., who was at the alphabet,
could hardly follow the ringing of the bell. We asked for some
French poetry. The reply was

QUSNNTKFSNEIGDRDAMSAM
O U, S O N T, L E S, N E I G E 5, D A N T A N

That is, "Ou sont les neiges d'Antan?" a verse of Villon's,
obviously known to us all.

We then asked, what were the relations of Villon with the
kings of France ?

KOUHTLECRUEL
LOUIS, L E, CRUEL

Louis le cruel.

What book ought we to read ?

ESSAYSURDADMONINMANHP
ESS A Y,SUR,DA EMONIOMANIE

The reader will understand that if I mention these experi-
ments, it is not because the answers are interesting in them-
selves, but because the precautions taken seemed sufficient to
prevent the medium from gaining any knowledge of the move-
ments of the operator at the alphabet. ... I add a few more
replies; but the number and intrinsic significance of these
replies is a matter of but little importance.

FEST INALENTE
LOFAMDTMREIINAJUBR
I N F A N D U M,REJ I N AJ U B E S
RENOVAREDOLOREM
RENO V A R E,D O L R E M

The old spelling of the word "Rejina" should be aoticed.
(Proc. Soc. Psych. Research, vol. v. pp. 142, 143.)

In this case it will be observed that P. alone was in
possession of the knowledge, without which all the
efforts of those at the table could have produced only
a meaningless sequence of letters. In some other
experiments of the series the procedure was more
complicated. M. Richet, standing apart from both
tables, asked a question, the answer to which was
given by the percipients with a certain approximation
to correctness. The results, though less striking than

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS. IOI

those already quoted, are yet such as to suggest that
they were not due to chance. 1

Production of Local Anesthesia.

We now pass to experiments of another kind,
resembling those last quoted, inasmuch as the effects
were produced without the consciousness of the per-
cipient, but differing in the important particular that
no deliberate and conscious effort on his part could
have enabled him to produce them. In experiments
carried on with various subjects at intervals through
the years 1883-87, at some of which the present writer
assisted, Mr. Edmund Gurney had shown that it was
possible by means of the unexpressed will of the
agent to produce local anaesthesia in certain persons.
{S.P.R., vol. i. pp. 257-260; ii. 2OI-20S; iii.453-4595 v.
14-17.) In these experiments the subject was placed
at a table, and his hands were passed through holes in
a large brown paper screen, so that they were com-
pletely concealed from his view. Mr. G. A. Smith
then held his hand at a distance of two or three
inches from the finger indicated by Mr. Gurney, at
the same time willing that it should become rigid and
insensible. On subsequently applying appropriate
tests it was found, as a rule, that the finger selected
had actually become rigid and was insensible to pain.
In the last series of 160 experiments Mr, Gurney, as
well as Mr. Smith, held his hand over a particular
finger. In 124 cases the finger over which Mr.
Smith's hand had been held was alone affected; in 16
cases Mr. Gurney and Mr. Smith were both success-
ful; in 13 cases Mr. Gurney was successful and Mr.
Smith failed. In the remaining 7 cases no effect at all
was produced. It is noteworthy that in a series of 41
similar trials, in which Mr. Smith, while holding his
hand in the same position, willed that no effect

1 Rev. /%//., Dec. 1884; see also S.P.R. % vol. ii. pp. 247 et scq*

102 APPARITIONS ANt> ?HOUGrff-TRANSPEkENC.

should be produced, there was actually no effect
in 36 cases; in 4 cases the finger over which his
hand was held, and in the remaining case another
finger, were affected. The rigidity was tested by ask-
ing the subject, at the end of the experiment, to close
his hands. When he complied with the request the
finger operated on if the experiment had succeeded
would remain rigid. The insensibility was proved
by pricking, burning, or by a current from an induc-
tion coil. In the majority of the successful trials
the insensibility was shown to be proof against all
assaults, however severe.

In these earlier experiments it seemed essential to
success that Mr. Smith's hand should be in close
proximity to that of the subject, without any interven-
ing barrier. These conditions made it difficult to
exclude the possibility of the subject learning by
variations in temperature, or by air currents, which
finger was actually being operated on; though it is
hard to conceive that the percipient could by any
such means have discriminated between Mr. Gurney's
hand and Mr. Smith's. On the other hand, even
if this source of error was held to be excluded,
the interpretation of the results remained ambiguous.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Gurney himself was inclined
to attribute the effects produced, not to telepathy, as
ordinarily understood, but to a specific vital effluence,
or, as he phrased it, a kind of nervous induction,
operating directly on the affected part of the per-
cipient's organism. (Proc. S.P.R., vol. v. pp. 254-259.)

With a view to test this hypothesis further experi-
ments of the same kind were made by Mrs. Sidgwick
during the years 1890 and 1892, the subjects being
P. and Miss B. already mentioned. The percipient
was throughout in a normal condition. As before,
he sat at a table with his hands passed through holes
in a large screen, which extended sufficiently far in
all directions to prevent him from seeing either the
operator or his own hands. Mr, Smith, as before,

PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS. IO3

willed to produce the desired effect in the finger
which had been intimated to him, either by signs
or writing, by one of the experimenters. Passing
over the trials, very generally successful, made under
the same conditions as Mr. Gurney's experiments
i.e., with the agent's hand held at a short distance
without any intervening screen from the finger
selected we will quote Mrs. Sidgwick's account of
the later series performed under varied conditions.
(Proc. S.P.R., vol. viii. pp. 577-596.)

No. 28. By MRS. H. SIDGWICK.

In the second division, (), of our experiments come those in
which a glass screen was placed over the subject's hands. For
the first four of these we used a framed window pane which
happened to be handy. Then we obtained and used a sheet
of 32 oz. glass, measuring 22 by 10 inches and l /$ inch in thick-
ness. This was supported on two large books placed beyond
the subject's hands on each side, and in this position the upper
surface of the glass was 2^ inches above the surface of the
table, so that there was ample room for the hands to rest under-
neath without touching the glass. Mr. Smith held his hand in
the usual position over the selected finger, above the glass and
not touching it. Under these conditions we tried 21 experi-
ments with P., of which 18 were successful, and 6 with Miss
B., all successful. In the case of the 3 failures with P., no
effect was produced on any finger. In one successful case, the
time taken was long, and we interrupted the experiment by
premature testing in the way explained above.

Division (c) includes those experiments in which Mr. Smith
did not approximate his hand to that of the subject at all, but
merely looked at the selected finger from some place in the
same room as the subject, but out of his sight. The distances
between him and the subject varied from about 2^ to about 12
feet. Under these conditions we tried 37 experiments with P., 18
in 1890, of which 6 were failures, and 2 only partially successful,
and 19 in 1892, of which 10 were failures. The proportion of
success was, it thus appears, much less than under the pre-
viously described conditions, but still much beyond what
chance would produce. Of the 6 failures in 1890, one was a
case in which Mr. Smith made a mistake as to which finger we
had selected, but succeeded with the one he thought of. In
another case the left thumb instead of the right thumb became
insensitive. In the other 4 cases no finger at all was affected.

104 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Of the 10 failures in 1892, no effect was produced in 4
cases ; in another the right (viz., the little) finger of the wrong
hand became insensitive i 1 in 4 cases an adjoining finger was
affected once only slightly instead of that selected, and in
the remaining case a finger distant from the selected one was
slightly affected.

Six experiments were made with Mr. Smith look-
ing at the finger through the opera-glass at a distance
of from 22 to 25 feet; in three cases the experiment
succeeded, in three another finger was affected instead
of that selected. Fourteen experiments were made
with a closed door intervening between percipient
and agent ; 2 only succeeded, and in 8 a wrong
finger was affected, no effect at all being produced
in the remaining 4 cases. In a further series of
4 trials Mr. Smith held his hand near the per-
cipient, and willed to produce no effect. The trials
were successful. In all these experiments P. was
the percipient

The rigidity was tested, as before, by asking the
subject to close his hands ; the anaesthesia, as a rule,
by touches or the induction coil. Tested by the
latter means it was found, as the current was gradu-
ally increased to the maximum, that the insensibility
was not always complete. Flexibility and sensation
were usually restored, for economy of time, by means
of upward passes ; but a few trials made later in the
series served to show that the finger could be restored
to its normal condition by a mere effort of will on the
part of the agent. In some cases when their attention
was specially directed to their sensations the subjects
were able to indicate beforehand the finger operated
on, by reason of the feeling of cold in it But as a
rule they appeared to be unaware which finger was
affected. It is perhaps needless to point out that no
conscious effort on their part could have produced
the results described.

1 It happened on another occasion under these conditions that the
right little finger was slightly affected when the left little finger, which
had been selected, was so in a more decided manner.

CHAPTER V.

EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION OF TELEPATHIC
EFFECTS AT A DISTANCE.

IN the cases so far described, where success has been
attained, the agent and percipient, if not actually in
the same room, have been separated by a distance
not exceeding at the most 25 or 30 feet. The
analogy of the physical forces would, of course, have
prepared us to find that the effect of telepathy
diminishes in proportion to the distance through
which it has to act. And in fact we have but few
records of successful experiments at a distance. Yet,
on the other hand, we are confronted by a large body
of evidence for the spontaneous affection of one mind
by another, and that at a distance frequently of
hundreds of miles. It is difficult to resist the con-
clusion, in view of the close similarity, in many cases,
of the effects produced, that the force operating in
these spontaneous phenomena is identical with, or at
least closely allied to, that which causes the transfer
of sensations or images from agent to percipient
within the compass of a London drawing-room. It
is probable, indeed, that the non-experimental evi-
dence, for reasons already alluded to, and discussed
at length in the succeeding chapter, should be
generously discounted. But it is not easy for an
impartial inquirer to reject it altogether. Nor indeed
is any such summary solution required by the results

106 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

of experimental telepathy. It is true that experi-
ments at a distance have seldom succeeded, and that
we have no record of any long-continued series of
such experiments at all comparable to those con-
ducted, e.g., by Mr. Guthrie or Mrs. Henry Sidgwick
at close quarters. But it is also probably true that
such experiments have been comparatively seldom
attempted. And if account be taken of the various
drawbacks incident to experiments at a distance, the
amount of success already achieved, though no doubt
less in proportion to the number of serious and well-
conceived attempts than is the case with experiments
conducted under the more usual conditions, is yet
far from discouraging. For trials at a distance are
tedious ; they consume much time, and call for long
preparation and careful pre-arrangemcnt. The diffi-
culties of securing the necessary freedom from dis-
turbance are probably increased when agent and
percipient are separated. The interest in such experi-
ments is difficult to maintain apart from the stimulus
of a rapid succession of trials with an immediate re-
cord of the results. Lastly, such experiments would
generally be undertaken only after a series of trials
at close quarters ; after, that is, some portion at least
of the original stock of energy and enthusiasm has
been exhausted. And even when such considerations
have no effect upon the experimenter, it is likely, as
has been already pointed out, that the novel condi-
tions would of themselves affect unfavourably the
imagination of the percipient, and thus prejudice the
results. That, notwithstanding these various draw-
backs, there have been several successful series of
experiments at a distance is a matter of good augury
for the future.

It is much to be desired that investigators should
give attention to obtaining more results in this branch
of the inquiry. For independently of the fact that
results of the kind form an indispensable link between
instances of thought-transference at close quarters

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 107

and the more striking spontaneous cases at a distance,
it is important to observe that in experiments of the
kind described in the present chapter the gravest
objection which is at present urged, and may fairly
continue to be urged, against most experiments at
close quarters viz., the risk of unconscious appre-
hension through normal channels is no longer applic-
able. Moreover, the results can only be attributed
to fraud on the extreme assumption that both parties
to the experiment are implicated in deliberate and
systematic collusion.

Induction of Sleep at a distance.

Some of the most striking experimental cases,
which arc concerned with the production of hallu-
cinations, are reserved for later discussion. (See
Chapter X.)

But perhaps the most valuable body of testimony
for the agency of thought-transference at a distance
is to be found in the experiments recorded by French
observers in the induction of sleep. It is not a little
remarkable that this, one of its rarest and most
striking manifestations, should have been among
the first and, until recently, almost the only form of
telepathy which attracted attention amongst French
investigators. Moreover, of late years at any
rate, this particular form of experiment has rarely
succeeded except in France, and with hypnotic sub-
jects. But as the number of physicians who practise
hypnotism increases in other countries, we may no
doubt hope to see the observations already made
confirmed and enlarged. The analogy of the experi-
ments in the induction of anaesthesia by thought-trans-
ference, recorded in the last chapter, would perhaps
have prepared us to accept the induction of sleep as
a not jmprobable effect of telepathy. But we are
not without more direct testimony. The opening

IOS APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

sentences of Professor Janet's account of the experi-
ment with Madame B. show us that, in this case at all
events, the conscious will of the operator was necessary
to produce the hypnotic trance, even at close quarters.
When, therefore, we find that tht same cause, operat-
ing at a distance, is constantly followed by a like
effect, there can be no reasonable ground for refusing
to recognise the operator's will as in this case also
the cause of the sleep; unless, indeed, we are prepared
to attribute all the results to chance.

No. 29. Experiments by MM. GlBERT and JANET.

In the autumn of 1885 Professor Pierre Janet of
Havre witnessed some trials made by Dr. Gibert
of the same town on Madame B., a patient of his own.
Madame B., whose fame has now reached beyond her
native land, is described by Professor Janet as an
honest peasant woman, in good health, with no
indications of hysteria. She has been hypnotised
since childhood by various persons, and is occasionally
liable to spontaneous attacks of somnambulism. One
of the most remarkable features presented by Madame
B/s induced trances is that she can be awakened by
the person who hypnotised her and by no one
else; and that his hand alone can produce partial
or general contractures, and subsequently restore her
limbs to their normal 'condition.

" One day," to quote Professor Janet (" Note sur qtielques
Ph^nom^nes de Somnambulisme," Revue Philosophique, Feb.
1886), "M. Gibert was holding Madame B.'s hand to hypnotise
her (pour Vendormir\ but he was visibly preoccupied and
thinking of other matters, and the trance did not supervene.
This experiment, repeated by me in various forms, proved to
us that in order to entrance Madame B. it was necessary to
concentrate one's thought intensely on the suggestion to sleep
which was given to her, and the more the operator's thought
wandered the more difficult it became to induce the trance.

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE, IO9

This influence of the operator's thought, however extraordinary
it may seem, predominates in this case to such an extent that
it replaces all other causes. If one presses Madame B.'s hand
without the thought of hypnotising her, the trance is not
induced ; but, on the other hand, one can succeed in sending
her to sleep by thinking of it without pressing her hand."

Of course in experiments of this kind no pre-
cautions could exclude the chance that some
suggestion of what was expected might reach the
percipient's mind through the gestures, the attitude,
or even the silence of the experimenter. But, acting
on the clue thus given, MM. Gibert and Janet
succeeded in impressing mentally on Madame B.
commands which were punctually executed on the
following day. During the same period Dr. Gibert
made three attempts, all of which met with partial
success, in inducing the hypnotic trance by mental
suggestion given at a distance. Subsequently, during
February and March 1886, and again during April
and May of the same year, these trials were repeated
with striking results. During one of the trials which
took place in April Mr. F. W. H. Myers and Dr. A.
T. Myers were present, and from their contemporary
record the following account is taken. Throughout
these trials, it should be stated, Madame B. was in
the Pavilion, a house occupied by Dr. Gibert's sister,
and distant about two-thirds of a mile from Dr.
Gibert's own house. The distance intervening
between agent and percipient in this series of
experiments was in no case less than a quarter of
a mile or more than one mile. In the first trial
described by Mr. Myers (18 in the subjoined table)
Madame B. actually went to sleep about twenty
minutes after the effort at willing had been made;
but as some of the party had in the interval entered
the house where she was and found her awake, it
seems possible that their coming had suggested the
idea of sleep. In the second case (No. 19) an attempt
to will Madame B. to leave her bed at 11.35 P.M.

I IO APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

and come to Dr. Gibert's house had failed the
only result, possibly due to other causes, being
an unusually prolonged sleep and a headache
on waking. Subsequently, to quote Mr. Myers'
account,

" (20) On the morning of the 22nd we again selected by lot
an hour (u A.M.) at which M. Gibert should will, from his
dispensary (which is close to his house), that Madame B.
should go to sleep in the Pavilion. It was agreed that a rather
longer time should be allowed for the process to take effect ;
as it had been observed (see M. Janet's previous communi-
cation) that she sometimes struggled against the influence,
and averted the effect for a time by putting her hands in cold
water, etc. At 11.25 we entered the Pavilion quietly, and
almost at once she descended from her room to the salon^
profoundly asleep. Here, however, suggestion might again
have been at work. We did not, of course, mention M. Gibert's
attempt of the previous night. But she told us in her sleep
that she had been very ill in the night, and repeatedly ex-
claimed : * Pourquoi M. Gibert m'a-t-il fait souffrir? Mais j'ai
lave les mains continuellement.' This is what she does when
she wishes to avoid being influenced.

"(21) In the evening (22nd) we all dined at M. Gibert's, and
in the evening M. Gibert made another attempt to put her to
sleep at a distance from his house in the Rue Sery, she being
at the Pavilion, Rue de la Ferme, and to bring her to his
house by an effort of will. At 8.55 he retired to his study;
and MM. Ochorowicz, Marillier, Janet, and A. T. Myers went
to the Pavilion, and waited outside in the street, out of sight of
the house. At 9.22 Dr. Myers observed Madame B. coming
half-way out of the garden-gate, and again retreating. Those
who saw her more closely observed that she was plainly in the
somnambulic state, and was wandering about and muttering.
At 9.25 she came out (with eyes persistently closed, so far as
could be seen), walked quickly past MM. Janet and Marillier
without noticing them, and made for M. Gibert's house, though
not by the usual or shortest route. (It appeared afterwards
that the bonne had seen her go into the salon at 8.45, and issue
thence asleep at 9. 15 : had not looked in between those times.)
She avoided lamp-posts, vehicles, etc., but crossed and re-
crossed the street repeatedly. No one went in front of her or
spoke to her. After eight or ten minutes she grew much more
uncertain in gait, and paused as though she would fall. Dr.
Myers noted the moment in the Rue Faure ; it was 9.35.
At about 9.40 she grew bolder, and at 9.45 reached the street

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. Ill

in front of M. Gibert's house. There she met him, but did not
notice him, and walked into his house, where she rushed
hurriedly from room to room on the ground-floor. M. Gibert
had to take her hand before she recognised him. She then
grew calm.

"M. Gibert said that from 8.55 to 9.20 he thought intently
about her; from 9.20 to 9.35 he thought more feebly; at 9.35
he gave the experiment up, and began to play billiards ; but in
a few minutes began to will her again. It appeared that his
visit to the billiard-room had coincided with her hesitation and
stumbling in the street. But this coincidence may of course
have been accidental. . . .

" (22) On the 23rd, M. Janet, who had woke her up and left
her awake, 1 lunched in our company, and retired to his own
house at 4.30 ( a time chosen by lot) to try to put her to sleep
from thence. At 5.5 we all entered the salon of the Pavilion, and
found her asleep with shut eyes, but sewing vigorously (being
in that stage in which movements once suggested are automati-
cally continued). Passing into the talkative state, she said to
M. Janet, 'C'est vous qui m'avez fait dormir a quatre heures
et demi.' The impression as to the hour may have been a
suggestion received from M. Janet's mind. We tried to make
her believe that it was M. Gibert who had sent her to sleep, but
she maintained that she had felt that it was M. Janet.

" (23) On April 24th the whole party chanced to meet at M.
Janet's house at 3 P.M., and he then, at my suggestion, entered
his study to will that Madame B. should sleep. We waited in
his garden, and at 3.20 proceeded together to the Pavilion,
which I entered first at 3.30, and found Madame B. profoundly
sleeping over her sewing, having ceased to sew. Becoming
talkative, she said to M. Janet, ' C'est vous qui m'avez com-
mand^ She said that she fell asleep at 3.5 P.M." (Proc. S.P.R.,
vol. iv. pp. 133-136.)

The subjoined table, taken, with a few verbal
alterations, from Mr. Myers' article, gives a complete
list of the experiments in the induction of trance at
a distance (sommeil d distance) made by 'MM. Janet
and Gibert up to the end of May 1886:

1 An experiment of another kind, the description of which is here
omitted, had been made on the morning of this day.

112 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

o'g<2
6

fcw a

Date.

Operator.

Hour when
given.

Remarks.

O O r-4

& a

1885.

i

October 3

Gibert

11.30A.M.

She washes hands and

wards off trance.

?

2

9

do.

11 40A.M.

Found entranced 11.45.

i

3

14

do.

4.15 P.M.

Found entranced 4.30:

had been asleep about

15 minutes.

i

1886.

4

Feb. 22

Janet

She washes hands and

wards off trance.

?

5

25

do.

5 P.M.

Asleep at once.

i

6

20

do.

Mere discomfort ob-

served.

7

March 1

do.

do. do.

8

2

do.

3 P.M.

Found asleep at 4 : has

slept about an hour.

1

9

,, 4

do.

Will interrupted : trance
coincident but incom-

plete.

1

10

5

do.

5-S.10 P.M.

Found asleep a few min-
utes afterwards.

1

11

6

Gibert

8 P.M.

Found asleep 8. 3.

1

12

10

do.

Success no details.

1

13

14

Janet

3P.M.

Success no details.

1

14

10

Gibeit

9P.M.

Brings her to his house :

she leaves her house a

few minutes after 9.

1

15

April 18

Janet

Found asleep in 10

minutes.

1

16

19

Gibeit

4PM.

Found asleep 4.15.

1

17

20

do.

8 P.M.

Made to come to his

house.

1

18

21

do.

5.f>0 P.M.

Asleep about 6. 10: trance

too tardy.

?

19

21

do.

11.35P.M.

Attempt at trance dur-

ing sleep.

20

22

do.

11 A.M.

Asleep 11.25 : trance too

tardy.

?

21

22

do.

9 P.M.

Comes to his house :

leaves her house 9.15.

1

22

23

Janet

4.30 P.M.

Found asleep 5.5, says

she has slept since

4 30.

1

23

24

do.

3P.M.

Found asleep 3.30, says

she has slept since 3.6.

1

21

May 5

do.

tt

Success no details.

1

25

6

do.

Success no details.

1

18

We have then in 25 trials 18 complete and
4 partial or doubtful successes. In two of the
latter Madame B. was found washing her hands to
ward off the trance, and in two others the trance
supervened only after an interval of twenty minutes
or more, and under circumstances which rendered it

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 113

doubtful whether telepathy were the cause. It is
important to note that during these earlier visits of
Madame B. to Havre, about two months in all, she
only once fell into ordinary sleep during the daytime,
and twice became spontaneously entranced; and
that she never left the house in the evenings except
on the three occasions (14, 17, 21), on which she
did so in apparent response to a mental suggestion.
There is little ground, therefore, for attributing the
results above given to chance.

A further series of trials with the same percipient
was conducted by Professor Janet during the autumn
of 1886. The results, communicated by him to
Professor Richet, were published by the latter in the
Proceedings of the S.P.R^ vol. v. pp. 43-4S. 1 In
order to facilitate comparison I have thrown these
later results also into tabular form. In the later trials
it will be observed that there is a tolerably constant
retardation of the effect. The exact degree of the
retardation it was not always possible to ascertain, as
it was not practicable to keep Madame B. continually
under observation, and to have let those at the
Pavilion into the secret, and to have asked them to
exercise special vigilance at the time of the experi-
ments would have entailed the risk of vitiating the
results. Moreover, in order to avoid giving any
suggestion by the hour of his arrival, M. Janet made
it a rule during a great part of this period to come to
the house at the same hour 4 P.M. in most cases
for several days consecutively. When an early hour,
therefore, had been chosen for the experiments, the
exact degree of success could only be determined if
Madame B.'s movements had chanced at the right
time to come under the observation of those in the
house. During the period of the trials Madame B.
fell asleep in the daytime spontaneously only four
times.

1 An account of these experiments is also contained in an article by
M. Richet in the Revue de I* Hypnotism* for February 1888.

8

114 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

i|
III

Date.

Hour when
given.

Remarks.

Success
or
Failure.

1886.

I

8th Sept.

3 P. M-

Found asleep at 4 P. M. M. J.

entered unseen and without

knocking

?

2

9th Sept.

3P.M.

Madame B. complained of

headache

F.

3

nth Sept.

9 (? A M )

Found at 10, " troublee et

etourdie "...

F.

4

I4th Sept.

4 P.M.

M. J. enters at 4. 15. Madame

B. says she was asleep, but

wakened by ringing of

door-bell

?

5 1

iSih Sept.

3.30 P.M.

Found asleep at 4 P. M. ; states

she was put to sleep at 3.30

S.

6 l

igth Sept.

3 P.M.

Went to sleep at about 3. 15

S.

7

23rd Sept.

2 P. M.

She was out walking

F.

8

24th Sept.

3. 1 5 P. M.

Found asleep at 4. Had

been seen awake at 3.15 ...

?

9

26th Sept.

3 P.M.

Walking in garden ..

F.

10

27th Sept.

8.30 P.M.

Commanded by M. Gibert to

come to his house. Left

the Pavilion, entranced, at

9.5 P.M. [in the account in

the Revue de F Hypnotismc

the latter hour is given at

9-i5\

S.

ii

29th Sept.

3.50P.M.

Found asleep at 4.5 [given in

Kevue as j. 5]

S.

12

3Oth Sept.

3.30 P.M.

F.

13

1st Oct.

2.40 P.M.

She was out walking

F.

14

5th Oct.

4 P. M.

Fell asleep suddenly at 4 5,

whilst talking with nurse in

garden

S.

1C

6lh Oct.

3 P.M.

F.

* j

16

9th Oct.

j
3.15 P.M.

F.

17

loth Oct.

J j '

3 20 p M.

Found asleep at 4. 5

?

18

1 2th Oct.

'* P.M.

F.

19

I3th Oct.

j * *

5 P.M.

Found asleep. Executed a

mental command given at

a distance viz., to rise at

M. J.'s entrance

S.

20

I4th Oct.

2.30 P.M.

Found asleep at 3.20

?

21

i6th Oct.

3 P.M.

Found asleep at 3.30

S.

M. Richet also took part in these two experiments.

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE.

='N

m

Date.

Hour when
given.

Remarks.

il

22

24th Nov.

2.30 P.M.

F.

27

3rd Dec.

4. 10 P.M.

F.

2A

5th Dec.

4 IO P M

F.

25
26

27

28

6th Dec.

7th Dec.
roth Dec.
nth Dec.

4.10 P.M.

2.30 P.M.
4-20 P.M.
3. 1C P.M.

Found awake, washing her
hands
Found asleep at 3.5...
She was out walking

?
?
F.
?

29

3Q

1 3th Dec.
I4th Dec.

4.5 P.M.
II.3O A.M.

Found asleep at 4.25. Had
been seen awake a few
minutes after 4 P.M.

S.
F.

'U

iSth Dec.

F.

^2

2 ist Dec.

F.

27

22nd Dec.

F.

34
35

23rd Dec.
25th Dec.

3 P-M.

3. 15 P.M.

Found asleep at 3.40
She was out walking. Bad
headache came on at 3.20.
Returned hurriedly, and at
once fell asleep in the salon.

?
S.

Throughout the series, except in case 10, M. Janet
was the operator. It will be seen that in the 35
trials there were nine cases in which Madame B.
was found asleep within half-an-hour of the attempt
being made to entrance her. In six other cases she
was found asleep after a longer interval, but there is
nothing to indicate that the sleep did not actually
supervene at the right time. In one case she was
found awake within fifteen minutes of the trial, but
stated that she had been awakened by the ringing of
the bell which announced M. Janet's arrival. In one
other case she was found washing her hands to ward
off the trance. Of the 17 failures Madame B. was
out walking in four cases at the time of the trial, a
circumstance which no doubt diminished the chances
of success. In two cases headache or disturbance
were produced ; of the remaining 1 1 trials no de-
tails are given, and it is presumed that no unusual

1 16 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

effect was observed, and that there was no apparent
cause for the failure. Of course, experiments carried
on under these conditions, the trials being confined
for the most part within a narrow range of hours, and
the subject liable to spontaneous trance, offer some
scope for chance coincidence. But as Madame B.
actually fell asleep spontaneously on only four
occasions during the period over which the trials
extended, it will probably be considered that the
number of coincidences, imperfect as they were, was
considerably more than could plausibly be attributed
to accident or self-suggestion. 1

In January 1887 M. Richet made some experi-
ments of the same kind on Madame B. Of 9 trials,
however, two only could be described as completely
successful, and three more as doubtful. A few further
trials, in December 1887 and January 1888, were even
less successful. M. Richet has attempted on several
occasions to influence other subjects at a distance,
but no series of successful results was attained ; and
isolated coincidences of the kind have, of course, little
evidential value (loc. cit^ pp. 47-5 1). 2

No. 30. Experiments by DR. DUFAY.

In a paper published in the Revue Philosophique of
September 1888, M. Dufay, a physician formerly in
practice at Blois, and now a Senator of France,
records several instances in which he has himself
succeeded in producing sleep at a distance. In one
case he hypnotised from his box in the theatre, as he
believes without her knowledge, a young actress who
had been a patient of his, and caused her, whilst in
the state of lucid somnambulism, to play a new and

1 It is not stated whether the hour of the experiment was chosen by
lot, but this precaution was taken in many of the earlier experiments.

2 An account of these experiments was also contributed by M. Richet
to the Revue de f Hypnotism f t Feb. 1888.

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 117

difficult part with more success than she would have
been likely to achieve in the normal state. In this
particular case, however, it seems possible that the
subject may have received some intimation of Dr.
Dufay's presence in the house, and that the hypnotic
state may have been due to expectation. Another
case was that of Madame C, who had been for some
time treated hypnotically by Dr. Dufay for periodical
attacks of sickness and headache. So sensitive did
this patient become to his suggestions that she would
fall into the hypnotic sleep as soon as the bell rang
to announce his coming, and before he had actually
entered the house. The circumstances under which
Dr. Dufay first made a deliberate attempt to influence
Madame C. at a distance were as follows : He was
in attendance on a patient whom he was unable to
leave, when he was unexpectedly summoned by
Monsieur C. to hypnotise Madame C, who was in the
height of an attack. He assured Monsieur C. that on
his return home he would find Madame C. asleep and
cured, as proved actually to be the case. However,
here also, as Dr. Dufay points out, self-suggestion
is a possible explanation. The following case seems
less open to suspicion on this ground :

" On another occasion," Dr. Dufay writes, " Madame C. was
in perfect health, but her name happening to be mentioned in
my hearing, the idea struck me that I would mentally order her
to sleep, without her wishing it this time, and also without her
suspecting it. Then, an hour later, I went to her house and
asked the servant who opened the door whether an instrument,
which I had mislaid out of my case, had been found in Madame
C.'s room.

" ' Is not that the doctor's voice that I hear?' asked Monsieur
C. from the top of the staircase ; ' beg him to come up. Just
imagine,' he said to me, ' I was going to send for you. Nearly
an hour ago my wife lost consciousness, and her mother and I
have not been able to bring her to her senses. Her mother,
who wished to take her into the country, is distracted. . .'

" I did not dare to confess myself guilty of this catastrophe,
but was betrayed by Madame C., who gave me her hand, saying,
' You did well to put me to sleep, Doctor, because I was going to

1 1 8 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

allow myself to be taken away, and then I should not have been
able to finish my embroidery.'

" * You have another piece of embroidery in hand ? '
" c Yes ; a mantle-border ... for your birthday. You must
not look as though you knew about it, when I am awake, be-
cause I want to give you a surprise.'

" I repeated the experiment many times with Madame C.,
and always with success, which was a great help to me when
unable to go to her at once when sent for. I even completed
the experiment by also waking her from a distance, solely by
an act of volition, which formerly I should not have believed
possible. The agreement in time was so perfect that no doubt
could be entertained.

" To conclude, I was about to take a holiday of six weeks,
and should thus be absent when one of the attacks was due.
So it was settled between Monsieur C. and myself that, as soon
as the headache began, he should let me know by telegraph ;
that I should then do from afar off what succeeded so well
near at hand ; that after five or six hours I should endeavour to
awaken the patient ; and that Monsieur C. should let me know
by means of a second telegram whether the result had been
satisfactory. He had no doubt about it ; I was less certain.
Madame C. did not know that I was going away.

" The sound of meanings one morning announced to Monsieur
C. that the moment had come ; without entering his wife's
room he ran to the telegraph office, and I received his message
at ten o'clock. He returned home again at that same hour, and
found his wife asleep and not suffering any more. At four o'clock
I willed that she should wake, and at eight o'clock in the evening
I received a second telegram: * Satisfactory result, woke at four
o'clock. Thanks.'

" And I was then in the neighbourhood of Sully-sur-Loire, 28
leagues 112 kilometres from Blois."

Similar experiments have been recorded by, amongst
others, Dr. J. H^ricourt, 1 a colleague of M. Richet in
the editing of the Revue Scientifique, Dr. Dusart, 1 and
Dr. Dariex. 2 In the last case there were only five
trials, the experiments being then discontinued at
the request of the patient The first three trials were
completely successful, the sleep supervening within,

1 Revue Philosofhique, February and April 1886. A translation of
these accounts is given in the Proc. S*P.R.> vol. v. pp. 222, 223.
8 Annales des Science* Psychiques, vol. iii. pp 257-267,

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 119

at most, a few minutes of the time chosen by the
agent.

The following narrative resembles those cited above
in its general features. But in view of the nature of
the effect produced a painful hysterical attack it is
perhaps hardly a matter for regret that the case is
without any exact parallel.

No. 31. By DR. TOLOSA-LATOUR.

In this account, taken from a letter written to M.
Richet by Dr. Tolosa-Latour on the 5th March 1891
(Annales des Sciences PsycJiiques, Sept-Oct. 1893),
Dr. Latour explains that he had repeatedly hypnotised
a lady who was seized in September 1886 with
hysterical paralysis, and had ultimately succeeded in
effecting by this means a complete cure. Prior to his
treatment, in 1885, she had suffered for some time
from daily hysterical attacks, and when she came
under Dr. Latour she was still occasionally subject to
them, and found relief in the hypnotic sleep. Both
symptoms had at the time which he writes almost
completely disappeared.

" I had made some very curious experiments, but I had never
thought about either action at a distance or clairvoyance. It
was while leaving Paris and reading your [M. Richet's]
pamphlet in the carnage that the idea occurred to me of
sending Mdlle. R. to sleep. It was Sunday, October the 26th,
the very day of my departure. I remember the hour too ; it
was just before reaching Poitiers, where some relations of my
grandmother were expecting me. I told my wife that I was
going to try the experiment, and begged her to say nothing
about it to any one. I began to fix my thoughts about six
o'clock, and during the journey from Poitiers to Mignie (where
we stayed several days) I again and again thought of this
question, especially during the intervals of silence which always
occur during a journey.

" I wished to cause a violent hysteric attack, as I knew that
she had not been dangerously ill for a long time. So on
Sunday, October the 26th, from six till nine o'clock in the
evening, I fixed my thoughts intently on the experiment

120 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

"Then, on my return, I asked my brother if Mdlle. R. had
called him in, as she always did when she was ill. Among the
patients' names I did not find hers. It seemed almost certain
that my experiment had failed. A week afterwards I called on
her, and was agreeably surprised to learn that, on the contrary,
it was a success, as you will judge by her letter. She does not
fix the day, but her sister and the nurse have told me that it
was the second Sunday after the festival of St. Theresa that is
to say, after Wednesday the isth; the first Sunday being the
iQth, the second is of course the 26th.

" This is the letter :

"From MDLLE. R. TO M. TOLOSA-LATOUR.

"March 23^, 1891.

"MY EXCELLENT FRIEND AND DEAR DOCTOR, I wanted

to write to ycu yesterday to give you the particulars of the
attack I had about the middle of last October, but I was not
able to do so till to-day.

"As I told you, it was about the middle of October ; I do not
remember the date, but I recollect very well that it was a
festival day, and at half-past six in the evening.

" We had just been to see my sister and brother ; we had had
luncheon with them. I was perfectly well, without any excite-
ment ; it was five o'clock, and I reached home all right, but
when I was sitting down, in the act of eating, I found myself
unable to speak or open my eyes, and, at the same moment, I
had a very severe, long, and violent attack, such as I do not
remember to have had for a long time.

" I was so ill that I thought of sending for Raphael, 1 and my
sister proposed it, but I thought that I ought not to disturb
him, for, knowing that you were away, nobody could stop the
convulsions and the excitement.

" I suffered horribly, for it was an attack in which I experi-
enced, so to say, all my previous sufferings combined. I was
completely broken down, but I have had no other attacks since,
not even a spasm."

No. 32. By J. H. P. 2

The next case records the execution by the subject
of a simple command to approach the operator, as in
some of M. Gibert's experiments already described,
and the partial execution of an order of a more

1 Dr. Litour's brother, house-surgeon at the hospital.

2 See No. 23, chap. iv.

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 121

complicated kind, given from a distance of more
than twenty-five miles :

It is possible to give M. a command in the waking state, but
she must be quiet at the moment when she receives it.

We had never made experiments of this kind until R. one
day proposed that we should try to make M. come to the room
where we were. M. was in a neighbouring house, and could
not know that we were actually in a kiosk at the end of the
garden.

For three minutes I gave her the mental command to come.
I began to think that I had failed, and continued energetically
for three minutes more ; she did not come, however.

We were just thinking that the experiment had failed when
the door opened suddenly and M. appeared.

" Well, do you think I have nothing else to do ! Why do
you call me ? I have had to leave everything."

" We wanted to say ' good morning ' to you."

" Very well ! I am going away now."

She shook hands with us and went away quickly; where-
upon it occurred to me to make her stop just at the gate.

(Mental command) u I forbid you to go out You cannot
open the gate ; come back." And back she came, furious,
asking if we were laughing at her.

Now, to send this last command I had not moved at all from
my place, and M. was completely invisible behind the garden
wall ; moreover, I was a long way from the window. I told her
that this time she could open it, and let her go.

I will finish with another experiment of the same kind, which
only partly succeeded, but which will serve to show the intensity
of the mental transmission between M. and me. I went away,
one morning, without thinking of M. I had to be away all day,
38 kilometres from her. At 2.30 it occurred to me to send her
a mental command, and I repeated it for ten minutes.

"Go at once to the dining-room ; you will take a book there
that is on the mantelpiece ; you will take it up to my study, and
you will sit in my armchair before my writing-table." I reached
home at night. The next day, as soon as I saw M., and even
before saying good morning to me, she cried : " I did a clever thing
yesterday. I must be losing my wits, I suppose ! Just imagine !
I came down without knowing why, opened the dining-room
door, then went up to your study, and sat in your armchair. I
moved your papers about, then I went back to my work."

The command had then been understood ; but she did not go
into the dining-room, and she did not take the book from there.

J. II. P
(Annales des Set. Psych. t May -June 1893.)

122 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Transference of Simple Sensations.

We may now pass to experiments in the transfer-
ence of simple impressions of the same kind as those
dealt with in Chapters II. and III. The following is
a record of a series of trials in the transference of
auditory impressions :

No - 33- From Miss X.

Miss X. is a lady resident in London, who is known
personally to the present writer and other members
of the S.P.R. She has experienced all her life
frequent interchange of telepathic impressions with
some of her friends. At the request of Mr. F. W.
H. Myers, Miss X. and a friend D., also living in
London, throughout the year 1888, with the exception
of three months during which they were living in the
same house, kept diaries in which any incident or feel-
ing which might seem to be telepathically connected
with the other was recorded. The ladies during a great
part of the time saw each other constantly, and com-
pared notes of their experience. In D.'s diary for the
year there are thirty-five entries of the kind, of which
twenty are believed to have been recorded before it
was known whether or not there was any actual event
to correspond with the impression. Of the twenty
entries fourteen refer to hearing music played by
Miss X., and two to reading books at, as D. believed,
her telepathic instigation.

The entries in D.'s diary are given in italics. The
degree of correspondence with the entries in Miss
X.'s diary is indicated in the words included between
brackets. 1

(i) Jan. 6th. Tried several books . . , finally took to
"Villelte?

1 Miss X.'s notes have been in some cases slightly abbreviated, in
order to save space. Full details of the experiments will be found in
Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. pp. 377'397

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 123

(From Miss X.'s diary it appears that she willed D. to read
The Professor, also by Charlotte Bronte.)

(2) Jan. -z^rd. Sonnets, E.B.B. 10.30 P.M.

(In Miss X.'s diary, written at about 10 P.M., appears the
entry, " Sonnets viii.-ix., E.B.B.")

(3) March 6th. Hellers, 7.30. (i.e., D. had an impression of
hearing Miss X. playing. Miss X. states that she was actually
playing Hellers at the time, but there is no note in her diary of
the fact.)

(4) March *jth. Beethoven waltzes, 10. (Correct recorded
in X.'s diary after seeing D.'s entry.)

(5) March %th. No practice, (i.e., X., contrary to her custom,
was not playing at this hour : correct.)

(6) March <)th. Music 7.30-8. (Correct.)

(7) March loth. ? Music 9.30-10 A.M. (Correct. Miss X.
had told D. that she would be out at that hour, and had sub-
sequently changed her plans, so that the music was unexpected
to D., hence the note of interrogation.)

(8) March i$th. 7.40. Music. (Correct.)

(9) March i^th. 9.30 A.M. [Music.] Evening of same day.
Nothing but organs and bands^ popular airs and Mikado.
? Flash of Henselt 9 (P.M.)

(10) March i$th. 9-10. ? Faint Henselt.

(Miss X. writes : " I remember that when D. showed me
these entries I was specially interested. I was practising at
the time some music of Henselt's she had never heard, and
was playing this on all five occasions. D. notes it on the
first three vaguely as * Music/ something which she did not
recognise. On the I4th I played it over to her, and afterwards
she recognised it imperfectly. I was practising it for her, know-
ing she would like it, so that she was much in my mind at the
time.")

The following entries were made whilst D. and X.
were in different and distant counties :

( 1 1 ) A ugust 1 5 th. Hellers, 9. i o- 2 5 . ( Correct.)

(12) August \7th. Slumber Song, 7.35-50. (Correct. D. wrote
of her two experiences, and X. read the letter aloud to her
hostess, who remembered that X. had actually played the music
named above at the time referred to.)

(13) September itfh. Halte, 9 A.M. (Incorrect. X. was not
playing.)

(14) November i%th. Chopin Dead March, War March
Athalie, 7.15-8 P.M.

(15) November 2$th. Lieder, 7.30.

(16) November T^th. Lied, never gets finished. 5.15-20.
(Miss X. writes : " On each of the above three occasions D.

124 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

asked me next day what I had played and found she was right.
My playing of the Lied on November 26th was interrupted
by the arrival of visitors, and the unfinished air naturally
haunted me. D. writes: On the day in question H. and I
were together. I said to her that I could hear you [Miss X.]
playing a Lied we both associated with you but that you
never got beyond a certain part, which seemed to be repeated.
H. replied, ' It is strange you should say that. I can't hear
her, but I have been seeing her at the piano for some minutes.'
H. corroborates this.")

It will thus be seen that in these 16 cases there
were only two instances (i and 13) in which D.'s
impression failed to correspond with the facts. The
remaining four entries (out of 20 recorded before-
hand) relate to impressions which also appear to
have corresponded with the event, but the degree of
correspondence is more difficult to estimate.

In Miss X.'s own diary there arc 55 entries during
this period, of which 27 were made before the event
was known. Of these 3 are failures, and in two other
cases it is doubtful whether the impression was
actually telepathic, or whether the coincidence should
not be attributed to accident. In the other 22 cases
of correspondence, presumably telepathic, Miss X.
was sometimes the agent, sometimes the percipient
The impressions relate to events of various kinds,
such as meeting particular persons, receiving letters,
and playing music. Of the veridical impressions four
were visual and one was a dream. 1

No, 34, From M. J. CH. Roux.

The following record is taken from a paper by M.
Jean Charles Roux, medical student, published in the
Annales des Sciences Psychiques (vol. iii. pp. 202, 203).
These experiments in thought-transference at a dis-
tance were preceded by a series of fairly successful
trials with playing-cards at close quarters, and by
some other experiments designed to test clairvoyance.

1 Miss X. kindly submitted her diaries for inspection to Mrs.
Sidgwick, who has carefully examined them.

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 12$

Third Series : Experiments at a distance.

Lemaire is in his room, I in mine, with two rooms inter-
vening. At an hour previously fixed on, I suggest a card to
him.

Date. Card thought of. Card guessed,

(i) Mir. 15, 1892... 4 hearts... red, hearts; low number, five

1 8,

27,

(2)

(3)
(4)
(5)

(6)

(7)

(8) Apr. 6,

(9)

10 hearts... 3 diamonds

6 spades... 6 clubs

...Kg. diamonds... Knave diamonds

...ace diamonds... 5 clubs
(Agent had failed to concentrate his attention.)

. . .Queen spades. . . King spades

4 clubs... 6 clubs

3 clubs... 5 clubs

2 spades... 2 spades

Fourth Series.

The account of the following six trials at a distance
in space and time, which are imperfectly recorded in
the Annales, is taken from a letter received from M.
Roux, dated the ipth December 1893 :

(10) Paris, 2nd April. Lemaire having gone out I drew a card
from the pack, the 9 Hearts, and tried to transfer it to him.
Then I wrote a note to the following effect : " Guess the card
that I am thinking of as I write these words," and left it on
the table. A few minutes after Lemaire entered and guessed the
7 Hearts.

(11) 3rd April. Lemaire was out. I drew a card from the
pack, the ace Hearts^ and tried to transfer it to him. As on the
previous day, I left a note on the table and went out immediately.
When I came back at midnight I found a line from Lemaire
saying he had guessed the ace Hearts.

The four other experiments took place in a country town, at
Chateauroux. We lived about 500 or 6co yards apart.

(12) 1 3th April. In the morning I saw Lemaire and said to
him, " At 2 o'clock you must guess a card that I shall suggest
to you." I went home, and at a quarter to twelve I drew from
the pack the 5 Hearts. I saw Lemaire again in the evening.
He had guessed the 6 Hearts. He was walking in the street
with a friend. At about two minutes to 2 P.M. he looked at his
watch, remembered the experiment, and immediately the idea
of Hearts came to him. A few minutes later, when alone, he
tried to guess the exact card, and decided on the 6 Hearts.

126 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

(13) 1 3th April. I said to Lemaire that on the I4th April, at
9 A.M., he was to guess a card. After going home on the I3th
April, at 10 P.M. I drew a card from the pack 4 Clubs. Next
day, at 9 A.M., Lemaire guessed 2 Clubs.

(14) July 1 7th. Lemaire was to guess a card at 9 o'clock.
At 10 minutes to 9, from my house, I tried to transfer the 4
Spades. (I have forgotten to make a note of whether I merely
thought of this card or whether I drew it from a pack.) At 9
o'clock Lemaire guessed 5 Spades.

(15) 3oth July. This experiment is more complicated but
none the less interesting. On the 3Oth July, at n A.M.,
Lemaire was to guess a card which I had tried to suggest to
him on the 26th July. This card was the Knave Diamonds.
But he forgot to do it, and did not remember to guess the card
till 7 P.M. on the 3oth July. Now on this same day, the 3oth
July, from 6 to 6.30 P.M. I was myself engaged in guessing a
card by clairvoyance, and after many attempts I decided on 7 or
8 Clubs, and Lemaire, guessing the card at 7 P.M., also decided
upon 7 Clubs. So that I had suggested the card to him un-
consciously.

Thus, omitting the last trial as of doubtful interpre-
tation, we find that in 14 trials the card was guessed
correctly twice, the number alone once, and the suit
alone nine times, or three times the probable number.

Transference of Visual Impressions.

In the four cases which follow the impression was
of a well-marked visual character; reaching, indeed, in
the two last to the level of actual hallucination. It
should be observed that in none of these four cases is
the possibility of chance coincidence so entirely pre-
cluded as in many of the experiments at close quarters
already cited. In the first of the cases recorded by
Dr. Gibotteau (No. 40), and in some of Mr. Kirk's
experiments (No. 37), the luminous patches seen by
the percipients are not unlike rudimentary hallucina-
tions of a sufficiently common type, and their resem-
blance in these instances to the objects actually
looked at or thought of by the agents should not
therefore be pressed very far. In the other cases,
however, the percipient received a well-marked im-

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 127

pression of a definite object But here there is a
flaw of another kind. The coincidences may have
been due, as indeed Miss Campbell (No. 35) is careful
to suggest, to a lucky shot on the part of the per-
cipient at the object the agent would be likely to
choose. The very distinct nature of the impression
produced in each case upon the percipient, as con-
trasted with the vague images called up, e.g. in Miss
Campbell's case, by more or less conscious conjecture,
is, however, against this interpretation ; and the fact
that in the first narrative the experiments quoted
were the culmination of a successful series of experi-
ments at close quarters tells in favour of a telepathic
explanation for these also.

No 35- By Mi ss CAMPBELL and Miss DESPARD.

A scries of experiments in thought-transference at
close quarters had been carried on by the narrators
at intervals from November 1891 to October 1892.
In sending the account of these experiments at a
distance, Miss Campbell explains that in the trial on
October 25th, "there was first an auditory impression,
as if some one had said the word ' gloves/ and then
the gloves themselves were visualised."

(No. i.) "June 22;^, 1892.

" Arranged that R. C. Despard should, when at the School of
Medicine in Handel Street, W.C., between 11.50 and 11.55, fix
her attention upon some object which C. M. Campbell, at 77
Chesterton Road, W., is by thought-transference to discover."

PERCIPIENT'S ACCOUNT.

" Owing to an unexpected delay, instead of being quietly at
home at 11.50 A.M., I was waiting for my train at Baker Street,
and as just at that time trains were moving away from both
platforms, and there was the usual bustle going on, I thought it
hopeless to try on my part ; but just while I was thinking this I
felt a sort of mental pull-up, which made me feel sure that Miss
Despard was fixing her attention, and directly after I felt 'my
compasses no, scalpel,' seemed to see a flash of light as if
on bright steel, and I thought of two scalpels, first with their

128 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

points together, and then folding together into one; just then
my train came up.

" I write this down before having seen Miss Despard, so am
still in ignorance whether I am correct in my surmise, but as I
know what Miss Despard would probably be doing at ten
minutes to twelve, I feel that that knowledge may have
suggested the thought to me though this idea did not occur
to me until just this minute, as I have written it down.

"C. M. CAMPBELL.

" 77 Chesterton Road, W."

AGENT'S ACCOUNT.

"At ten minutes to twelve I concentrated my mind on an
object that happened to be in front of me at the time two
scalpels, crossed with their points together but in about five
minutes, as it occurred to me that the knowledge that I was
then at the School of Medicine might suggest a similar idea to
Miss Campbell, I tried to bring up a country scene, of a brook
running through a field, with a patch of yellow marsh marigolds
in the foreground. This second idea made no impression on
Miss Campbell perhaps owing to the bustle around her at the
time.

"R. C DESPARD."

(No. 2.) " October 2$th, 1892.

"At 3.30 P.M. R. C. Despard is to fix her attention on some
object, and C. M. Campbell, being in a different part of London,
is by thought-transference to find out what that object is."

PERCIPIENT'S ACCOUNT.

"At 3.30 I was at home at 77 Chesterton Road, North Ken-
sington, alone in the room.

" First my attention seemed to flit from one object to another
while nothing definite stood out, but soon I saw a pair of gloves,
which became more distinct till they appeared as a pair of
baggy tan-coloured kid gloves, certainly a size larger than worn
by either R. C. D. or myself, and not quite like any of ours in
colour. After this I saw a train going out of a station (I had
just returned from seeing some one off at Victoria), almost
immediately obliterated by a picture of a bridge over a small
river, but I felt that I was consciously thinking and left off the
experiment, being unable to clear my mind sufficiently of out-
side things."

AGENT'S ACCOUNT.

"At 3.30 on October 25th I was at 30 Handel Street, Bruns-
wick Square, W.C. C. M. C. and myself had arranged before-
hand to make an experiment in thought-transference at that

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 129

hour, I to try to transfer some object to her mind, the nature of
which was entirely unspecified. I picked up a pair of rather old
tan-coloured gloves purposely not taking a pair of my own
and tried for about five minutes to concentrate my attention on
them and the wish to transfer an impression of them to C. M. C.'s
mind. After this I fixed my attention on a window, but felt my
mind getting tired and therefore rather disturbed by the con-
stant sound of omnibuses and waggons passing the open
window.

"R. C. DESPARD.

" October -zyh, 1892."

Miss Campbell writes later :

" 77 CHESTERTON ROAD, NORTH KENSINGTON, W.,
November 24/7*, 1892.

" With regard to the distant experiments, the notes sent to
you were the only ones made. In the first experiment (scalpels)
1 wrote my account before Miss Despard's return, and when
Miss Despard returned, before seeing what I had written [she]
told me what she had thought of, and almost directly wrote it
down.

" In the second experiment '(gloves), I was just going to
write my account when Miss Despard returned home, and she
asked me at once, 'Well, what did I think of?' and I told
her a pair of tan gloves then sat down and wrote my account,
and, when she read it through, she said, 'Yes, you have
exactly described Miss M.'s gloves, which I was holding while
I fixed my attention on them,' and then she wrote her account.'*

The next account is taken from the Annales des
Sciences PsycJiiques, vol. iii. pp. 114-116. M. Hennique,
the agent, had acted as agent in four experiments at
a distance with another percipient in the previous
year {Annales, vol. i. pp. 262-265). In the first the perci-
pient saw vague lights, and finally a vase of flowers
(very clear) ; the agent was looking at a lamp covered
by a transparent shade, with a vase of flowers
painted on it. In the second the percipient again
saw vague lights, and then a luminous sphere ; the
agent was looking at the lamp globe placed on the
table in full light. In the third, the percipient only
saw brilliant lights, like stars or jewels ; the agent
was looking at the word Dteu, in big letters. In the
fourth the percipient, to his astonishment, saw nothing;

9

130 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

the agent had willed him to see nothing. In each
case the percipient's impression was recorded in
writing before any communication was received from
the agent. In the present case, it will be seen, the
percipient received, not the impression which the
agent wished to transfer, but the image of another
object within the agent's field of vision, and which
had entered his thoughts in connection with this very
experiment.

No. 36. From M. LEON HENNIQUE and M. D.

" On Friday, the 8th of July last, my friend Hennique and I
made a further experiment in telepathy. Hennique was away
from Paris, and separated from me by a distance of 171 kilo-
metres. At midnight I wrote to Hennique the following
letter :

11 ' PARIS,////J/ 8///, 1892, midnight.

"'MY DEAR HENNIQUE, A friend came unexpectedly to
dinner. At 10.30, looking through the open window at the blue
sky under the full moon, I thought all of a sudden of the experi-
ment planned by us, of the telepathic meeting that we had fixed
for eleven o'clock this evening, and my brain received at the
same time the impression of a puppet. It seemed to me that
you were trying to show me a little cardboard man fitted with
strings to make his arms and legs move.

" * Reminded by this impression of my telepathic duty, I said
good-night to my friend, and at eleven o'clock I waited, with
my eyes closed, in the darkness of the dining-room. Nothing
happened till twelve or fifteen minutes past eleven, when there
appeared to me for an instant a small black silhouette, a
Chinese shadow, as if you had cut out a little black figure and
placed it in front of a light ; for the round part, which seemed
to be its head, was surrounded by a bluish halo. It was mostly
this little black sphere which I thought was a headthat I
saw ; the body I rather deduced than saw. ( D.'

" M. Hennique replied to me as follows':

"' RIBEMONT (AlSNE), Sunday, lothjuly 1892.

"'MY DEAR FRIEND, It was a bottle full of water, sur-
mounted by its cut-glass stopper, a large stopper, very bright,
that served for our experiment. But the most curious part of
the affair is that about four inches from the bottle there was
actually hanging on the wall a nigger-doll, of the kind which
you describe, belonging to my daughter. Was it reflected on
the crystal ? A mystery I For one second, but scarcely for a

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 131

second, I had intended to telepathise the jumping-jack to you
before choosing the water-bottle. It is certainly very odd !

"'LEON HENNIQUE.'

" M. Hennique added to this letter a water-colour drawing of
the above-mentioned ' nigger-doll.' The head is a black circle,
in which only the lips are red ; the arms and legs are black ;
the chest is white, crossed with red ; arms, thighs, and legs are
jointed, and can be worked by a string,

" I wrote to my friend to ask him if, at 10.30 that is to say, at
the moment when I had conceived of a jumping-jack, he had
not, on his part, thought at the same moment, of the same
object. He answered me :

"'RlBEMONT, itfhjuly 1892.

" ' No ; at 10.30 I was not thinking in the least of the jumping-
jack; but, if I remember rightly, once or twice last year I
wished to make use of it. It was only at the moment of
choosing a simple object for the experiment that for an instant
the idea of that little man came into my head ; it was, you see,
before beginning our experiment. This puppet was not four
inches, but only two inches away from the water-bottle. There
is something very curious in it, a physical or psychical effect,
which I can't account for. The more so that this doll, in card-
board mounted on strings, is always fixed to the wall, above the
table from which I am sending you my good wishes. It must
have been about 9 o'clock, while tidying the before-mentioned
table, that I had the idea of transmitting to you the image of
the jumping-jack.

"'LEON HENNIQUE.'"

No. 37._By MR. JOSEPH KIRK and Miss G.

During the year 1890 and onwards, Mr. Joseph
Kirk, of 2 Ripon Villas, Plumstead, has carried on
with a friend, Miss G., a series of experiments in
thought-transference at a distance varying from 400
yards to about 200 miles. Some account of these
experiments will be found in tins Journal of the S.P.JR.
for February and July 1891 and January 1892.
There are 22 x trials in the transference of diagrams,
etc., there recorded. The object looked at by Mr. Kirk
was generally a square or oblong card, or a white disc
with or without a picture, diagram, or letter on it
The object was always illuminated by a strong light

1 Excluding two in which the distance was only a few yards.

132 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Notes of the experiments were in every case made
independently in writing" by agent and percipient.
In each case, with the exception of two occasions (on
which Mr. Kirk's notes record his anticipation of
failure), the percipient saw luminous appearances,
often taking the form of round or square patches of
light, in correspondence with the shape of the surface
looked at by the agent. When Miss G. was at
Pembroke or Ilfracombe (Mr. Kirk remaining at
Plumstead) the correspondence did not go beyond
this; but in two or three cases, when Miss G. was
also at Plumstead, at a distance of only 400 yards,
the percipient appears to have seen some details of
the diagram on the card, and in one instance a fairly
accurate reproduction of the diagram was given. Mr.
Kirk on this occasion, 5th June 1891, was trying to
impress three percipients of whom Miss G. was one
and used three diagrams, viz., a Maltese cross, a
white oval plate with the figure 3 on it, and a full-
sized drawing of a man's hand in black on white.
Miss G.'s report is as follows :

"5/6/91. Sat last night from 11.15 to ir -45- After a few
minute.s wavy clouds appeared [these are drawn as a group of
roundish objects], followed by a pale bluish light very bright in
centre. [This is drawn of an indefinite oval shape with roundish
white spot in centre.] Near the end of experiment saw a
larger luminous form, lasting only a moment but reappearing
three or four times ; it had lines or spikes about half an inch
wide darting from it in varied positions."

Appended are reproductions of Miss G.'s original
drawings of her impression, which bear, it will be
seen, a marked likeness to a man's hand.

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 133

It should be added that Miss G. has not had any
hallucinations of the kind except at times when Mr.
Kirk was experimenting ; and the amount of corre-
spondence between her visions and the images which
Mr. Kirk endeavoured to transfer would certainly
seem beyond what chance could produce.

No. 38. By MR. KIRK and Miss G.

A further series of seven trials with the same perci-
pient in April-June 1892 produced some interesting
results. Full notes of the experiments were, as in the
previous cases, made by Mr. Kirk and Miss G. inde-
pendently. Mr. Kirk wrote his notes immediately
after the conclusion of the experiments, which were
made late in the evening, at a time previously agreed
upon. Miss G., who was in the dark, and as a rule in
bed, wrote her notes on the following morning before
hearing from Mr. Kirk. No diagrams were used in
this series, "the object being," in Mr. Kirk's words,
" to test the possibility of influencing the imagination,
and inducing the percipient to visualise hallucinatory
figures of persons or animals thought of by the
agent." Miss G. knew only that diagrams would not
be used. The distance between agent and percipient
was about 400 yards.

In the first three trials (April loth, I7th, and 24th,
1892) Mr. Kirk pictured to himself some ducks in a
room, a witch, and other figures. On the I7th Miss G.
saw at one time a small sunlike light, but with this
exception she had no impression at all on any of the
three occasions.

At the fourth trial (ist May) Miss G. records the
same night that she saw " a broken circle U , then
only patches of faint [light, not cloudlike, but flat,
which alternated with vertical streaks of pale light."
Afterwards, however, she had another vision, which
she thus records on the following morning before
meeting Mr. Kirk :

134 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

" Soon after lying down last ni^ht, I had a rapid but most
realistic glimpse of Mr. Kirk leaning against his dining-room
mantelpiece ; the room seemed brightly lighted, and he looked
rather bothered, and just as I saw him he appeared to say,
' Doctor, 1 I haven't got my pipe.' This seems very absurd,
the more so as I do not know whether Mr. Kirk ever smokes
a pipe. I see him occasionally with a cigar or cigarette, but
cannot remember ever seeing him with a pipe ; if I have, it
must have been years ago. I do not know whether my eyes
were open or closed, but the vividness of the impression quite
startled me. This occurred just after the expiration of time
appointed for experiment (10.45-11.15)."

Mr. Kirk reports in his account of the trial, written
on the ist May, that he tried to transfer an image of
himself, sitting on a low chair, and also the part of
the room facing him in the light of the lamp. But
after seeing Miss G.'s report, he adds

" The fact that I had another experiment to make [*.*., after
the trial with Miss G.] enables me to trace minutely my actions
before beginning it. Immediately the time had expired with
Miss G., I got up and rapidly lit the gas and three pieces of
candle, which I had ready in the cardboard box-cover, to illumi-
nate the diagram. The room was therefore brilliantly lighted.
I now rested with my right shoulder against the mantelpiece, with
my face towards Miss G., but with my eyes bent on the carpet.
In this position I thought intensely of myself and the whole
room, and feeling really anxious to make a success, for at least
six minutes. By this time my shoulder was aching very much
with the constrained attitude and the pressure on the mantel-
piece, and I broke off, using words (talking to myself) very similar
to those given by Miss G. What I muttered, as nearly as I can
remember, was, * Now^ Doctor, I'll get my pipe.' . . . Until
within the last few weeks I have not smoked a pipe for many
years, and I do not think it probable that Miss G. has ever seen
me use one ; but it is an absolute certainty that she was not
aware I had taken to smoke one recently."

In the fifth experiment of the series, made on
the pth May, the impression which appears to have
been transferred was fortunately recorded beforehand.
Mr. Kirk's report of that date, after describing an
attempt to transfer an image of the room, and of
an imaginary witch, runs as follows :

1 A familiar name given to Miss G. by Mr, and Mrs. Kirk.

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 135

"Continued to influence her some minutes after limit of
time for experiment (11.30 P.M.). During this time I was
much bothered by a subcurrent of thought, which I in vain
strove to cast off. In the morning, just before time to get up,
I had a vivid dream of my lost dog (' Laddie'). 1 I dreamt he
had returned, and that my wife, Miss G., and myself, made
much of him. I thought of him all day, and tried to suppress
the thought, fearing it would interfere with the success of
experiment ; feel worried and irritated at this, being really
anxious to make an impression. Do not expect favourable
result. Written same night. " J. K."

Miss G.'s report is as follows :

"Experiment last night (9-5-92) most unsatisfactory. Saw
only a glow of light and once for a few seconds a figure [of a
vase]. Some minutes after 11.30 (time for conclusion of experi-
ment) it seemed as if the door of my room were open, and on
the landing I saw a very large dog, moving as though it had
just come upstairs. I cannot conceive what suggested this, nor
can 1 understand why I thought of Laddie during time of
experiment. I do not think we have mentioned him recently.
My door was locked as usual. " L. G."

The sixth experiment (iSth May 1892) was, in
the words of Mr. Kirk's contemporary report, " devoted
to making hypnotic passes, done with great energy
and concentration of mind. The passes were made,
not only over Miss G/s [imagined] face and arms,
but specially over her hands," with the view of
inducing hypnotic sleep.

Miss G. reports that she " fell asleep before the
time arranged had expired. But it was only to awake
again very soon, through dreaming I was in a base-
ment room . . . making frantic efforts to strike a
match, prevented doing so by some one behind clasp-
ing my wrists. The sensation was so unpleasantly
real that it awoke me." The time fixed for the
experiment had then passed. This was the only
occasion in this series on which Miss G. went to sleep
during an experiment.

1 Mr. Kirk explains later that this dog had been lost six years before.
They had all been much attached to him, and his loss was still an
occasional topic of conversation and of dreams by Mr. Kirk.

136 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

In the seventh experiment (5th June 1892) Mr. Kirk
again made passes to send Miss G. to sleep. Miss
G., on her side, saw only something " like the varied
but regular movements one sees in turning a kaleido-
scope, only without the colouring ; it was simply
luminous, and lasted more or less distinctly from
15 to 20 minutes." This impression may conceivably
have been due, as Mr. Kirk suggests, to the regular
movements of his hands in making the hypnotic passes.

In estimating the value of the coincidences between
Mr. Kirk's thought and Miss G.'s impressions in the
fourth and fifth trials, it should not be overlooked that
the percipient's impressions were not vague images,
such as are wont to crowd through our minds on
the near approach of sleep, but clear-cut visions,
approximating to visual hallucinations.

No. 39. By MR. KIRK and Miss PRICKETT.

Mr. Kirk conducted another short series of experi-
ments in March 1892, with Miss L. M. Prickett,
the distance between agent and percipient being
about twelve miles. The results are given below.
It is to be noted that the percipient's impressions in
this series seem generally to have been deferred. But
in weighing the amount of correspondence between
the diagrams and the percipient's reproductions, it
should be observed that of the four diagrams
employed, three were reproduced with substantial
accuracy, and in their chronological order ; and
that even on the second and third evenings the per-
cipient's impressions rectilinear figures inscribed in
a circle bore a general resemblance to the diagram
actually selected. It is perhaps unfortunate that
three out of the four diagrams included circles or
figures akin to circles, but as the percipient had not
seen any of the diagrams beforehand, this circumstance
does not in any way invalidate the results, though it
weakens the argument against chance-coincidence-

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE.

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EXPERIMENTS At A DISTANCE. 139

Mr. Kirk has conducted several other series of
experiments in the transfer of diagrams and ideas
and in the induction of hypnotic sleep at a distance,
with Miss G., Miss Porter, of 16 Russell Square,
Mr. F. W. Hayes, and others. In one case the
percipient was at Cambridge, a distance of more
than fifty miles from Plumstead. The results in
nearly all these cases raise a certain presumption of
thought-transference, though the presumption is in
most cases owing partly to the conditions of the
experiments not so strong as in the two series last
quoted. It is to be remarked that the series of ex-
periments between Plumstead and Cambridge were
perhaps the least successful of any, a result which
may perhaps be attributed partly to the distance,
partly to the fact that the agent and percipient were
not personally acquainted.

It should be recorded that Mr. Kirk is strongly
of opinion, as the result of a careful analysis of the
experiments conducted by him, that telepathy, in these
cases at any rate, operates as a rule subconsciously,
and that we ought to be prepared to find the most
striking proofs of its action in such undesigned
coincidences as are quoted in Nos. 4 and 5 of the
second series with Miss G.

No. 40. From DR. GiBOTTEAU.

Dr. Gibotteau, in the year 1888, made the acquaint
ance, at a creche in connection with a Paris hospital,
of a peasant woman named Bertha J. Bertha was a
good hypnotic, and Dr. Gibotteau succeeded on many
occasions in inducing sleep at a distance. But Bertha
claimed also to have the power of influencing others
telepathically a power which in her case seems to
have been hereditary, as her mother had a reputa-
tion for sorcery. Bertha professed to be able, by the
exercise of her will, to cause persons to stumble, or to
lose their way, or to prevent them from proceeding

140 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

in any given direction. She gave Dr. Gibotteau
several illustrations of these powers, and he believes
her pretensions to be well founded (Annalcs dcs
Sciences Psycliiques, vol. ii. pp. 253-267, and pp. 317-
337). The following instances of hallucinatory effects
of a more ordinary kind are taken from the same
paper. In the last case, it will be observed, the
experience was collective. In none of the three cases
were the percipients aware of Bertha's intention to
experiment. It will be seen that in the second case
she succeeded in producing the emotional effect
desired, though the imaginary object by which she
intended to inspire terror was hardly of a kind
calculated to frighten a hospital surgeon. Dr,
Gibotteau writes :

" I am a good sleeper, and I do not remember ever waking- of
my own accord in the middle of my sleep. One night, about 2
or 3 o'clock, I was abruptly awoke. With my eyes still shut I
thought, ' This is one of B.'s tricks. What is she going to make
me see?' I then looked at the opposite wall; I saw a circular
luminous spot, and in the centre a brilliant object, about the
size of a melon, that I stared at for several seconds, being wide
awake, before it disappeared. I could not distinguish any form
clearly, nor any detail, but the object was round, and parts of it
appeared to be less luminous. I imagined that she had wished
to show me a skull, but I could not recognise it ; the wall was
lighted up in that place as if by a strong lamp; the room was
not completely dark, because the window had outside blinds,
and the curtains were drawn back ; but this brilliant object did
not seem to give out any light beyond the area of which it
occupied the centre on the wall. That was all. I waited a
moment without seeing anything else, then I went fast asleep
again. The next day I found Bertha, who had come to visit
the hospital, and I questioned her cautiously. She had tried to
show me first of all some dogs round my bed, then some men
quarrelling, and finally a lantern. That was all. It will be seen
that though the first two attempts failed, the third succeeded
perfectly.

"After that, Bertha very often tried to hallucinate me; but I
have never either seen or heard anything.

" I was more sensible to transmissions of a vague and general
character. I have written elsewhere of illusions of the sense of
space : I had a complete illusion of this kind, and P. a very

EXPERIMENTS AT A DISTANCE. 14!

curious commencement of an hallucination. I have also de-
scribed the causeless terror that Bertha could inspire.

" Here is another account of a fright. One evening I was
entering my house, at midnight. On the landing, as I was put-
ting my hand on the door-handle, I said to myself, 'What a
nuisance ! here is another of B.'s tricks 1 She is going to make me
see something terrifying in the passage ; it is very disagreeable.'
I was really a bit nervous. I opened the door suddenly, with
my eyes shut, and seized a match ; in a few minutes I was in
bed, and, blowing out my candle, I put my head under the
bed-clothes, like a child. The next day Bertha asked me if I
had not seen a skeleton in the passage or in my room, and been
very much frightened. It need hardly be said that a skeleton
was the last thing in the world that could frighten me ; and
frankly, I think that I am not more of a coward than the common
run of men."

On another occasion Dr. Gibotteau was in the
company of a friend, M. P. They had just parted
from Bertha.

"After having deposited B. near her home, we went back to
the Latin Quarter with the carriage. On reaching the Rue de
Vaugirard, before the gate of the Luxembourg, I felt myself
seized by a terror intense as it was absurd. The street was
admirably lighted, there was not a single passer-by, and the
Quarter at that hour (just about midnight) is perfectly safe.
Moreover, this fright did not seem to depend on any cause. It
was fear just for fear. ' It is absurd,' said I, ' I am frightened,
very much frightened ; it is certainly a trick of B.'s.' My
friend laughed at me, and almost immediately, ' Why, it is
taking hold of me also. I am trembling with fear. It is very
disagreeable.' The impression lasted until we were in front of
the gate of the Luxembourg Palace ; we got out of the carriage
at the corner of the Rue Soufflot and the Boulevard Saint-
Michel. As soon as we set foot on the ground : * Look,' said
P., ' don't you see something white floating in the air, there,
just in front of our eyes ; it has gone.' I saw nothing, but I
felt very strongly the influence of 13.

" The next day I met her at the hospital. ( Well ! you saw
nothing ? ; I begged her to tell me what we ought to have
seen. This was her answer : * First, your driver lost his way
oh ! not you, you felt nothing ; he took you by all sorts of
queer ways.' It is a fact that our carriage, from the Rue de
Babylone, had gone by a very complicated way, and one which,
at the time, did not seem to me the right one, but I should not
like to say anything definite about it. * After that you were
frightened.' (Which of us?) 'You at first, M. P. afterwards.

142 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Oh, yes ! afraid of nothing at all, without any reason, but you
were very frightened. Then you saw some white pigeons flying
round you, quite near.* I had never heard her speak of this
hallucination. As to the fright, that subject was familiar to her,
and she has frightened me several times, deliberately, as I have
related."

143

CHAPTER VI.

GENERAL CRITICISM OF THE EVIDENCE FOR SPON-
TANEOUS THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

IF the reader has been able to accept my estimate
of the evidence brought forward in the preceding
chapters, the possibility of the transmission of ideas
and sensations, otherwise than through the known
channels of the senses, must be held to be proved by
the experiments there recorded. That proof can be
impugned only on the ground that the precautions
taken against communication between agent and per-
cipient by normal means were insufficient. For if
the precautions are admitted to have been sufficient,
there can be no question that the results were not
due to chance. It is not necessary here to enter into
nice calculations of the probabilities. If, for instance,
the odds in favour of some other cause than chance
for the results recorded, on pp. 66-69 were to be ex-
pressed in figures, the total sum would compete with
or outstrip the stupendous ciphers employed by the
astronomer to denote the distance of Sirius, or the
weight of the Sun. But the kind of evidence now to
be considered the coincidence of some spontaneous
affection of the percipient with some event in the life-
history of the person presumed to be the agent, as
when one sees the apparition of a friend at the time
of his death is of inferior cogency in two ways.
The coincidences are neither so numerous nor so
exact ; and the risk of error in the record is far
greater. On the one hand, therefore, there is a
greater probability that the percipient's affection,

144 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

even if correctly described, was unconnected with
the state of the person supposed to be the agent ; on
the other hand we have, in most cases, less assurance
that the description given of his experience is in its
essential features accurate. The part played by
coincident hallucination in the question of telepathy
may be illustrated from another branch of scientific
inquiry. For some years the "Germ Theory" rested
mainly on observations of the distribution of certain
diseases, their periodic character and their mode
of propagation and development ; phenomena which,
though sufficiently striking, arc not in themselves
susceptible of exact interpretation. It was not until
the minute organisms, whose existence had been so
long suspected, had been actually isolated in the
laboratory, and had been proved capable of repro-
ducing the disease, that the connection of certain
maladies with the presence of certain microbes in the
body became, from a plausible hypothesis, an accepted
conclusion of Science. So here it is important to
bear in mind that dreams, visions, and apparitions,
however captivating to the imagination, do not form
the main argument for believing in some new mode
of communication between human minds. If all the
cases of the kind hitherto recorded could be shown
one by one to be explicable by more familiar causes,
though the result would indeed be to add a remark-
able chapter to the history of human error ; though
it would be a singular paradox that so many intelli-
gent witnesses should have been so mistaken, and
with such undesigned unanimity ; and that a whole
class of alleged phenomena should have sprung up
without any substantial basis, the grounds for the
belief in telepathy would not be seriously affected ;
we should merely have to modify our conceptions of
its nature, and restrict its boundaries. But in fact
there is no reason to anticipate so lame a conclusion.
The incidents, of which examples will be adduced in
the succeeding chapters, though their value will be

SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE. 145

differently estimated by different minds, arc yet in
their aggregate not such as can plausibly be attri-
buted to misrepresentation or chance coincidence.
And, first, it is important to note that the cases must
be considered in the aggregate. Separately, no doubt,
each particular case is susceptible of more or less
adequate explanation by some well-known cause ;
and in the last resort it would be unreasonable to
stake the credit of any single witness, however
eminent, against what Hume would call the uniform
experience of mankind. But as a matter of fact the
experience of mankind is not uniform in this matter ;
and when we are forced by the mere accumulation
of testimony to go on adding one strained and im-
probable explanation to another, and to assume at
last an epidemic of misrepresentation, perhaps even
an organised conspiracy of falsehood, a point is at
length reached in which the sum of improbabilities
involved in the negation of thought-transference
must outweigh the single improbability of a new
mode of mental affection. If to any reader that
point should seem not yet to have been reached
and the position could scarcely be held an unreason-
able one I would remind him that the cases quoted
in this book form but a small part of the evidence
so far accumulated ; and I would ask that he should
reserve his judgment until he has studied the whoie of
the evidence recorded in Phantasms of the Living, in
the Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical
Research, the scattered cases appearing from time to
time in the pages of various English and Continental
periodicals dealing with this subject, and the ever-
growing mass of testimony printed in the Proceedings
and Journal of the Society for Psychical Research in
this country. 1 He will then perhaps be prepared to

1 Of the Proceedings of the S.P.R., published by Kegan Paul,
Trench, Trttbner, & Co., three or four parts are published yearly.
The Journal, which appears monthly, contains a record df recent cases
of interest, unaccompanied, for the most part, by any critical com-

10

146 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

endorse the verdict of a shrewd and genial critic on
the evidence presented in Phantasms of the Living,
viz., that it " can only be rejected as a whole by one
who is prepared to repeat at his leisure what David
is reported to have said in his haste." l

It is of course not possible with our present know-
ledge to estimate with any precision the probabilities
for the coincidence by chance of such a vision as that
recorded by Dr. Dupr (No. 47), or such a dream as
Mr. Hamilton's (No. 58), with the event represented.
Neither the nature of the percipient's impression in
these and similar cases, nor the event to which the
impression corresponds, are sufficiently well defined to
admit of any numerical argument being based upon
them. We can only recognise that whilst dreams
and mind's-eye pictures are not very uncommon
experiences, dreams and visions which faithfully
reflect external events of an unlikely kind occur, if
rarely, with sufficient frequency to give us pause.
The common sense which in such cases leads us
to infer a connection between the event and the
corresponding mental experience is our only guide.
But one large class of our spontaneous evidences
is susceptible of more exact treatment Sensory
hallucinations are affections at 'once well marked and
unusual. If we can ascertain their relative frequency
it is possible to calculate with more or less exactness
the probabilities of the coincidence by chance with
some definite event Such a calculation has been
attempted in Chapter IX. with regard to hallucina-

mentary, and is privately printed for circulation amongst members and
associates of the Society. Any reader, however, desirous of studying
the subject may procure any number of the Journal referred to in this
book on application at the Rooms of the S.P.R., 19 Buckingham St.,
Adelphi, W.C. Of the foreign periodicals referred to in the text, per-
haps the most important is the Annales des Sciences Psychiques, edited
by Dr. Dariex, and published by Germer Bailliere et Cie., Paris.
Cases of interest are also to be found in Sphinx, a German periodical,
to be obtained through Kegan Paul & Co.; in the Revue Spirite (Paris;
24 Rue des Pet its- Champs) ; and elsewhere.
1 Professor C. Lloyd Morgan in Mind, 1887, p. 282.

SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE. 147

tions of a certain well-defined type coinciding with
the death of the person represented. The conclusion
there reached is that such coincidences are far too
numerous to be ascribed to chance. This part of the
evidence cannot therefore be summarily dismissed,
as suggested by more than one recent critic, on the
plea that hallucinations which coincide with a death
may be set off against hallucinations which occur
without any coincidence, and both alike be regarded
as purely subjective and without significance. Our
own estimate of the probabilities is, of course, pro-
visional, and may ultimately prove to be wide of the
mark. But, meanwhile, it is at least proof against
assault by conjectural statistics or the obiter dicta of
amateur psychologists.

But in fact the criticism commonly made is not
that, happening as described, visions and halluci-
nations happened by chance ; but that they did not
happen as described. This objection deserves careful
consideration. It must, I think, be admitted that a
proportion, perhaps a large proportion, even of the
cases obtained at first-hand are so far inaccurate as to
have comparatively small value for scientific purposes ;
and of the residue, in which the central fact of an
unusual subjective experience on the part of the
percipient and its coincidence with some external
event is fairly well established, it is possible that the
details are frequently and where the record is not
made until some years after the event, generally
untrustworthy. In order to estimate the nature and
probable extent of these defects, it is proposed briefly
to pass in review the various kinds of error to which
testimony is liable, and to note their bearings on the
question at issue.

Errors of Observation.

Errors of observation are here of very little import-
ance. The thing to be observed is, of course, the

148 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

percipient's own sensations. In subsequent con-
versation he may exaggerate the exceptional nature
of the impression ; but he can hardly make a mistake
at the time in observing what is purely subjective.
If a man calls green what we call red, we may
conclude that he is colour-blind ; and if he asserts
that he sees a human figure where we see none, that
he is hallucinated ; but in neither case have we
warrant for saying that he is making an erroneous
statement about his own sensations.

Errors of Inference.

But his interpretation of what he sees is a differ-
ent matter. Not indeed that the mistake commonly
made of taking a hallucination at the time for a figure
of flesh and blood, and subsequently for a hypothetical
entity of another kind, directly affects the percipient's
testimony. So long as the witness accurately de-
scribes what he saw, it matters little whether he
believes in telepathic hallucinations, or in black magic,
ghosts, or the Himalayan Brothers. But there are
one or two errors of inference of sufficient import-
ance to deserve notice.

A real figure seen under exceptional circumstances
may at the time or in the light of subsequent events
be regarded as a hallucination. Such a mistake is, as
a rule, possible only out of doors; and the commonest
form of it is when a figure is seen by the percipient
resembling some friend believed to be at a distance,
or in circumstances which make it difficult to suppose
that the figure was of flesh and blood. A curious
instance came under my notice recently. It was
reported to me that a lady had seen in a certain pro-
vincial town the ghost of a friend at about the time
of her death. The figure, accompanied by another
figure, was seen in broad daylight at a distance of
a few feet only; it was clearly recognised, and the
proof of its non-reality lay in the complete absence of

SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE. 149

recognition in return. It was subsequently ascertained
that the friend in question had actually been present
in the flesh, with a companion, at the spot where the
figures were seen, but that for sufficient reasons she
desired to avoid recognition. Her death within a few
days of the encounter was merely an odd coincidence.
Another kind of erroneous inference is worth not-
ing. Cases are not infrequently quoted, as presumably
telepathic, of a dream or vision embodying informa-
tion demonstrably not within the conscious knowledge
of the percipient. The inference that he cannot have
obtained the information by normal means is clearly
unsound, unless it can be shown that it was impossible
for the information to have been received uncon-
sciously. For it is well established that intelligence,
even of events closely affecting the percipient, may
enter through the external organs of sense and lie
latent for days before emerging into consciousness.
It is obvious that, for instance, many of the cases
quoted in which an invalid became aware of news
(e.g., of the death of a relative) which had been
studiously withheld from him by those around may
be thus explained. Whispers heard in sleep, or hints
unconsciously received, may have betrayed the secret. 1

Errors of Narration.

Of much greater importance than errors of observa-
tion or inference are those due to defects either in
narration or memory. Deliberate deception amongst
educated persons is no doubt comparatively rare,
though it would perhaps be unwise to hold out any

1 See the case recorded by Miss X. (Proc. S.P.R., vol. v. pp. 507, 508).
In this instance Miss X, saw in the crystal a notice of a friend's death
in the form of an extract from the obituary column of the Times, in
which journal she had almost certainly seen the news, without perceiv-
ing it, the day before. There is a dream recorded in Phantasms of the
Living, vol. ii. pp. 687, 688, which may probably be explained as the
emergence in dream of intelligence unconsciously received a few hours
before.

ISO APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

pecuniary inducement for the production of evidence.
But there are those, like Colonel Capadose in Mr.
Henry James' story The Liar, who tell ghost stories
for art's sake, and on a slender basis of fact build up
a large superstructure of fiction. -And there are many
more who, with a natural and almost pardonable
desire to appear as the hero, or at least the raconteur,
of a good story, or from the mere love of the marvel-
lous, allow themselves to exaggerate the coincidences,
adjust the dates, elaborate the details, or otherwise
improve the too bare facts of an actual experience.
This kind of embellishment, however, is probably
more frequent in second-hand accounts, where the
narrator speaks with less sense of responsibility, and,
it may be added, of reality.

Again, a common form of inaccuracy is to quote as
the experience of a friend one of those weird stories
which are passed on from mouth to mouth in ordinary
society the inconvertible currency of psychical re-
search. We all know these old friends at a distance,
for no one has ever succeeded in making their nearer

acquaintance. There is the ghost at No. 50 B

Square; the driver of the dream-hearse, recognised a
year later in a lift, which fell straightway, with all its
passengers, to the bottom of the hotel ; the Form
which accompanies the priest, or Quaker, or godly
merchant to save him from robbery on his lonely
nocturnal journeyings; the young lady who took part
in some tableaux vivants whilst her body was lying"
cold in death and all the rest of the phantom throng.
Only a few months ago I heard one of them it was
the ghost of the lift from the son of a doctor, who
assured me that the incident occurred to one of his
father's patients, and gave me the name of the foreign
hotel which had been the scene of the disaster. 1

1 I have before me as I write one case of the kind which will serve as
a sample. A told us the story, and induced B to write to us about it.
B informed us that he heard it from his brother C, a F. R. S. , who had
received it from D, to whom it was told by E, who had it from the lips

SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Sometimes a story is improved by the narrator that
it may the better serve for instruction and edification.
This tendency is especially liable to distort the evi-
dence in cases connected with death. It must be
remembered that though we may view a coincident
hallucination, for instance, as merely an instance of
an idea transferred from a living mind, to the per-
cipient it frequently represents the spirit of the dead.
From a certain class of witnesses the account of such
an incident is as little to be trusted as the text of an
apocryphal gospel. It inevitably becomes a Tendenz*
schrift, which reflects not the facts as they occurred,
but the narrator's conception of what the facts ought
to have been.

It is not necessary to dwell on these sources of
error, for they are probably apparent to all ; and to
give illustrative cases would be superfluous, and per-
haps invidious. But it is important to observe that
stories so improved, whether from a desire to reinforce
some theological tenet, or from the mere love of
sensation, are apt to betray their origin in many
different ways. Narrators of this kind rarely con-
tent themselves with the finer touches ; the added
ornaments are apt to be gross and palpable;
the "spirit" will be made to speak words of warning
or comfort; to intimate his testamentary disposi-
tions; or even in somewhat bolder flight of fancy
to leave a solid memento behind him. Now the
authentic phantom is seldom either dramatic or
edifying..

of F, " who was a visitor at the house where the occurrence took place."
We wrote to D, who referred us to two sources of information, G and
H. G wrote in reply to our letter that he heard the story from a
stranger at a dinner-party "about three years ago," and promised
further inquiries. H referred us to J and K. Our letter to K was
answered by his cousin L, who wrote that she had heard it from M,
"who got it from some one who was present," and further inquiries
were again promised. It is needless to add that in cases of this kind
the story, like a will-o'-the-wisp, ever recedes as we advance, until it
ends with the nameless stranger at some dinner long since gone "away
in the Ewigkeit."

152 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Errors of Memory.

More insidious and more difficult to guard against
are errors of memory. There is a natural and almost
inevitable tendency to dramatic unity and complete-
ness which leads to the unconscious suppression of
some details, and the insertion of others. Probably
of all errors due to this cause a nice adjustment of the
dates is the commonest. In perhaps the majority of
second-hand cases, and in some of the more remote
first-hand narratives, the coincidence is said to be
exact to the minute. "At that very moment my friend
passed away" is a common phrase. As a matter of
fact, in the best attested recent cases it can rarely be
shown that the coincidence is precise, and the impres-
sion frequently follows the death by some hours. But
there is risk also of the actual transformation of the
experience itself. A dream after the lapse of years
will be recalled as a hallucination, 1 a vague feeling
of discomfort as a vivid emotion, or even a mental
vision; a hallucination not recognised at the moment
will in the retrospect seem to have been identified
with some person who died at about that time; and
details, such as clothes worn or words spoken by the
phantom, will be borrowed from later knowledge and
read back into the image preserved in the memory.
There will further be a gradual simplifying and
rounding off of the incident, a deepening of the main
lines, and a suppression of what is not obviously
relevant or coherent. With many persons Jthere can
be no doubt that this process is almost, if not wholly,
unconscious; and it need hardly be said that in that
very fact lies the special danger against which we
have to guard. 2

1 There is, as Mr. Gurney has pointed out, a converse error to be
guarded against viz., the gradual effaccment of the lines of an impres-
sion, so that an actual waking hallucination has in some instances come
to be regarded, after a long interval, as only a dream.

8 A good illustration of this kind of embellishment, in a case recorded
at second-hand, will be found in the footnote on a case in Chapter XII,

SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE. 153

As an instance of the gradual approximation of
dates, I may cite a case recorded in the Proceedings
of the American S.P.R. (pp. 401, 527). The narrator
wrote to Dr. Hodgson : " I once dreamed that W. T.
H. was dead ; and the same night he was thrown
down several feet on to an engine, . . . when he was
taken up it was thought he was dead/' From later
inquiries it was ascertained that the accident did
indeed occur as alleged but a week or ten days after
the dream! 1 As an illustration of a different kind of
metamorphosis, a case may be given which I recently
received from a lady and her daughter an account
of a " ghost " seen twenty-five years ago by the latter
and her nurse. The younger lady described to me the
figure seen ; the mother told me that she had received
a similar description from both nurse and daughter
at the time of the incident. Both ladies were clear-
headed and sensible witnesses, and it was impossible
to doubt that they believed what they said. But in
her childish diary, which the younger lady kindly
unearthed for my inspection, the only entry referring
to the matter an entry written in pencil and ob-
viously as an afterthought ran : " Ellen saw a ghost."
If the diarist had herself shared the experience, it is
difficult to believe that even the modesty natural to
her age and sex would have withheld her from record-
ing the fact for her private glorification.

It would be easy to multiply cases of this kind.
But those who demand most proof of the action of
telepathy will probably be least exacting of evidence
for the untrustworthiness of ancient memories. As a
matter of fact, we have the evidence of statistics to

1 So in a case given in the Annales des Sciences Psychiques, vol. ii.
pp. 5-10, we have an extract from the log-book of the Jacques-Gabriel^
which records that the captain, mate, and another man when at
sea heard, on the I7th July 1852, the sound of a woman's voice crying.
In a marginal note on the log-book the captain adds that on reaching
port they learnt of the death of the mate's wife, " on the same day and
at the same hour" But the official register shows that the death took
place on the i&hjune 1852.

154 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

show that the imagination does tend after a certain
lapse of time to magnify coincidences in matters of
this kind, and even to invent coincidences where none
existed. It will be shown in Chapter IX., in the dis-
cussion on the results obtained from an inquiry into
the distribution of sensory hallucinations, that whereas
non-coincidental hallucinations tend to be forgotten
after the passing of a few years, the records of coinci-
dental hallucinations or at least of those which are
alleged to have coincided with the death of the person
seen are proportionately more frequent ten years
ago than at the present time, the inference being that
a certain number of coincidences have been uncon-
sciously improved or invented in the interval.

Pseudo-presentiment.

In a letter published in Mind (April 1888) Pro-
fessor Royce, of Harvard, U.S.A., hazarded a hypo-
thesis that there may occur " instantaneous and irre-
sistible hallucinations of memory which make it seem
to one that something which now excites or astonishes
him has been prefigured in a recent dream, or in the
form of some other warning." In support of that
hypothesis Professor Royce appeals to the analogy
of the well-known cases of double memory, the
impression of having at some previous time looked
on a scene now present, or heard a conversation now
taking place ; and to two or three instances of un-
doubted hallucination of memory amongst the insane,
recorded by Krafft-Ebing and Kraepelin. As re-
gards the latter, it is sufficient to remark that the
hallucinations occurred to persons whose minds were
admittedly diseased ; that the hallucinations them-
selves were apparently slow of growth, whereas the
hypothesis requires that they should be more or less
instantaneous ; and that in other respects they do not
present by any means a perfect parallel to the pre-
sumably telepathic cases with which he compares

SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE. 155

them. In default, therefore, of more precise analogies,
the hypothesis of pseudo-presentiment must be re-
garded as, at best, a plausible guess. And even if
it were fully substantiated it would only, as pointed
out by Mr. Gurney (Mind, July 1888), apply to
certain classes of telepathic cases, and those the
weakest from the evidential standpoint. At most
the theory would account for dreams and indefinite
impressions of various kinds not mentioned before-
hand. In some cases of this kind, and in a large
class of so-called " prophetic " dreams, I am inclined
to regard Mr. Royce's explanation as possibly true,
in the modified form suggested by Dr. Hodgson (Proc.
American S.P.R., pp. 540 et seq.} i.e., if it is restricted
to cases where there is a vague memory of some actual
dream or other impression, bearing a more or less re-
mote resemblance to the event; in other words, if
we assume an illusion rather than a hallucination of
memory. But it need hardly be said that no serious
investigator would treat the uncorroborated accounts
of dreams and vague feelings of this kind as evidence
for anything whatever. To extend the hypothesis,
as Professor Royce suggests, to cases where there is
evidence that the percipient's experience was men-
tioned beforehand, is to suppose not one kind of
pseudo-memory, but two, a pseudo-memory on the
part of the percipient that he has had a certain
subjective experience, and a pseudo-memory on the
part of some other person that this experience was
mentioned to him before the news of the event to
which it related. In recent cases, at any rate, the
assumption of a double mistake of this kind seems
unwarranted. 1 And to apply this explanation to

1 That such a pseudo-memory on the part of a person not professing
to be the actual percipient is possible after a long interval appears to be
shown by the account just cited of the " ghost " seen by the nurse in a
foreign hotel. But we have no evidence that a memory hallucination of
this kind could be, as demanded by the theory, of instantaneous or very
rapid growth ; or that any verbal suggestion could intercalate a false
picture into a series of still recent and unimpaired memories,.

1 56 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

cases of actual sense-hallucination involves even
more violent improbabilities. It would require far
more evidence than Professor Royce can offer to
make it credible that a man on hearing of the
death of a friend should straightway be capable of
imagining that at a definite hour and in a particular
place he had seen an apparition of that friend, when
in fact he had had no experience of the kind. It is
remarkable that Mr. Royce does not himself appear
to have realised the distinction between the two kinds
of impressions.

Precautions against Error.

We have now to consider by what methods the
various defects incident to testimony on these matters
may be best eliminated. As the evidence upon which
reliance is placed will be illustrated by the examples
quoted hereafter, it will not be necessary to dwell at
length here upon the precautions taken. The testi-
mony at first-hand of the actual witnesses, it need
hardly be said, is to be desired in any investigation;
but in the case of phenomena which are at once
stimulating to the imagination, and, as being novel,
have no recognised standard of probability by which
narrator or auditor can check deviations from the
truth, no other evidence is worthy of consideration. 1
It will be seen that in all the cases here quoted the
witness, or one of the witnesses, has furnished an
account of his experience written by himself; 2 and it

1 Second-hand narratives have, however, a value of their own, as
shown later; for by taking note of the features which occur commonly
in such cases, but are absent from the best attested first-hand narratives,
we obtain a valuable standard of comparison by which to check aber-
rations of memory.

2 An apparent exception to this statement will be found in Nos. 45
and 46, Chapter VII., and elsewhere, where the account is furnished
not by the actual percipient, but by a person to whom the percipient
related his experience before he knew of its correspondence with fact.
The evidence in such cases, it should be pointed out, is as good as
first-hand; indeed, where, as in Nos. 45 and 46, the actual per-
cipient was illiterate and the narrator educated, it may be regarded as
better than first-hand*

SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE. 157

is worth noting that the very act of writing such an
account to serve the purpose of a systematic inquiry
is calculated to inspire the percipient with a sense of
responsibility, and to lead him to weigh his words
with precision. I may add that by the courtesy of
our informants we have in most cases been enabled
to question them orally on the details of their
experience. 1

But, for reasons already given, no case should be
suffered to rest upon a single memory. It is of the
highest importance, therefore, to obtain the corro-
borative testimony of persons who were cognisant of
the occurrence of the impression before the news of
the corresponding event When this is not to be
obtained, evidence of some unusual action on the
part of the percipient, such as the taking of a journey,
or the putting on of mourning, may be accepted as
collateral proof of the reality of his impression. But,
as we have already seen, the evidence of the attesting
witnesses is liable to the same errors which affect the
testimony of the percipient; and the evidence most
to be desired is of a kind exempt from these weak-
nesses that of a letter or memorandum written
before the news. In a large proportion of the narra-
tives dealt with, it is asserted that such a letter was
written, or such a memorandum made. Unfortunately,
this alleged documentary evidence is rarely forth-
coming. It is possible that in some cases this state-
ment is merely a conventional dramatic tag, an
addition made unconsciously and in perfect good
faith to round off the story. 2 It cannot, however, I

1 This part of the work has been undertaken in this country by
Professor and Mrs. Sidgwick, Mr. E. Gurney, Mr. F. W. H. Myers,
myself, and others; in America, chiefly by Professor Royce and Dr.
Hodgson.

8 In the Times of the 6th January 1893 there appeared a letter from
a well-known writer, narrating how in 1851 he had received a descrip-
tion of the sea-serpent from a lady who had watched its movements for
some half-hour in a small bay on the coast of Sutherlandshire. So far
the story is on a par with any of our own second-hand ghost stories. But

158 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

think, be regarded as surprising either that a letter or
note was not written at the time, or that, if written, it
should not have been preserved. Sensory halluci-
nations to take the most striking instance though
unusual are not extremely rare experiences ; most
Educated persons are perfectly familiar with the fact of
their occurrence and regard them (in most cases rightly)
as purely subjective, the products of some transient
cerebral disturbance, as little worthy of record as a
headache or a bilious attack. Often, probably, the
telepathic hallucination is indistinguishable from the
mass of purely subjective experiences of the same kind;
and even should it be recognised at the time as excep-
tional, the want of leisure, the fear of ridicule, even
the dislike of seeming to admit to himself the possi-
bility of his experience having a sinister significance,
would probably deter the percipient from writing about
it. 1 It is much more likely that he would speak of
it to an intimate friend, should opportunity occur.
And when in the rare conjunction of an exceptional
experience, adequate leisure, and a sympathetic corre-
spondent, or the habit of writing a diary, the letter is
actually written or the note made, the chances which
militate against its preservation are many. Few
persons will take a general and impersonal (in other
words, a scientific) interest in occurrences of this kind.
Their own isolated experience may possess a deep
and abiding interest for themselves, and, less certainly,
for their friends ; an interest, however, which is quite
compatible with the treatment of the attesting record
as waste paper. But unless it can be used to illustrate
or support a theory of a future life, they seldom regard

the writer goes on to say that the serpent had rubbed off some of its
scales on the rocks ; that a few of these scales, of the size and shape of
scallop-shells, were for some years in his own possession, but that
when he searched amongst his curios, in order to show these scales to
Professor Owen, they were not to be found. The humble investigators
of the S. P. R. have occasionally found themselves in the same position
as the illustrious anatomist.

1 See, for example, the case quoted in Chapter X., No. 63.

SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE. 159

a " ghost story" as having any value other than that
derived from the personal environment. It appears,
indeed, to possess for most little more significance
than the recital of an extraordinary run of luck at
cards, or a fortunate escape from a railway accident,
between which it is commonly sandwiched. Again,
few persons realise the high value of contemporary
documentary evidence in matters of the kind ; there
are many who would probably share the views of
a courteous correspondent, who, after sending me
condensed copies of some contemporary memoranda,
wrote in answer to my inquiries : " I have not got
the originals'; I destroyed them immediately I sent
them (i.e., the copies) to you, because I knew they
would be more permanently preserved and re-
corded; being authenticated to Professor Barrett and
you, there was no further need of them." And
even when they escape immediate destruction the
letters may, as in cases reported to us, be "washed out"
or burnt; or may survive the perils of flood and fire
only to be mislaid, so that they cannot be found without
a more thorough search than the courtesy of our corre-
spondents can induce them to make. Notwithstanding
these various adverse chances, it will be found that
many of the narratives which follow are actually
attested by contemporary documentary evidence.

When the great mass of narratives has been care-
fully examined and tested in the light of the con-
siderations above set forth, and when all those which
are remote in date, or for some other reason suspect,
have been eliminated, there will be found to remain
an important body of testimony. And of this sifted
residue, though we cannot predicate of any single
narrative that it accurately represents the facts, or
that the coincidence with which it deals was not
purely casual, yet looking at the cases as a whole, we
may feel a reasonable assurance that in their essential
features the facts are correctly reported, and that the
coincidences are not due to chance.

160 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

I may conclude this chapter by calling attention to
an argument of a different kind, on which Mr. Gurney, 1
in reviewing the material amassed chiefly in this
country, laid considerable stress, and in which he has
been followed by an independent observer, Professor
Royce, dealing with narratives received from corre-
spondents in America. 2 Both these investigators have
pointed out, and probably all who make an equally
careful and dispassionate study of the evidence will
agree with them, that the phenomena vouched for in
the best-attested narratives form a true natural group.
They are manifestly not the products of folk-lore,
nor of popular superstition, nor of the mere love of the
marvellous. They are singularly free from the more
sensational and bizarre features dramatic gestures
or speech on the part of the phantasms, prophetic
warnings, movement of objects, etc. which are con-
spicuous in second-hand narratives. If these accounts
were purely fictitious, it would be difficult to conceive
by what process, coming from persons of widely
separated social grades, of various degrees of educa-
tion, and of different nationalities, they could have
been moulded to present such strong internal re-
semblances; resemblances consisting not merely in
the possession of many common features, but in the
absence of others which, by their frequent occurrence
in admittedly fictitious accounts, are proved to be the
natural fruits of the unrestrained imagination. This
undesigned unanimity is strong evidence that the
restraint operating throughout has been the restraint
of fidelity to fact, and that the narratives themselves
owe little to the imagination, and much to their
reflection of genuine experience.

1 Phantasms of the Living, vol. i. pp. 164-166.
1 Proceedings American S.P.fi., pp. 350, 351.

CHAPTER VII.

TRANSFERENCE OF IDEAS AND EMOTIONS.

BEFORE proceeding to give examples of the evidence
for spontaneous thought-transference, it may be well
to repeat something of what has been said in the
preceding chapter. In the first place, the narratives
quoted in this book are offered as samples only of
the evidence of this kind actually accumulated. No
single narrative can afford to stand alone. Each
contains one or more elements of weakness ; and in
the last resort chance coincidence, memory-hallucina-
tion, or even deliberate deception would be in any
single case a more probable explanation than a new
mode of mental affection. It is only, to borrow Mr.
Gurney's metaphor, as a faggot, and not as a bundle
of separate sticks, that the evidence can finally be
judged. But, in the second place, it is not claimed
that the evidence reviewed even in its entirety is by
itself sufficient to demonstrate the possibility of the
affection of one mind by another at a distance. The
main proof of such affection is based on the experi-
ments already described, to which the spontaneous
evidence so far adduced must be regarded as illus-
trative and in some degree auxiliary.

It will be more convenient, as a matter of arrange-
ment, that the spontaneous experiences first con-
sidered should be those which resemble most closely
the results of direct experiment, though this classifi-
cation has the disadvantage of placing in the forefront

II

162 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

cases of the least definite and striking kind ; cases,
that is, which are most readily explicable as due to
chance coincidence. It is on all grounds, therefore,
expedient that the reader should reserve his final
verdict until he has the whole case before him.

In the present chapter there will be adduced
instances of the spontaneous transference of (i)
simple sensations ; (2) ideas and mental pictures ;
(3) emotional states ; (4) impulses tending to action.
The first two classes, and in some measure the last,
resemble the results described in the first five
chapters of this book ; for the third probably no
direct experimental parallel can be offered, for the
sufficient reason that vivid and intense emotion
cannot be evoked at will.

Transference of Simple Sensations,

We will begin by quoting two instances of the
transference of simple sensation. The first we owe
to the kindness of Mr. Ruskin. The percipient was
Mrs. Severn, wife of the well-known landscape
painter.

No. 41. From MRS. ARTHUR SEVERN.

" BRANTWOOD, CONISTON,

October 27^, 1883.

" I woke up with a start, feeling I had had a hard blow on
my mouth, and with a distinct sense that I had been cut and
was bleeding under my upper lip, and seized my pocket-
handkerchief, and held it (in a little pushed lump) to the part,
as I sat up in bed, and after a few seconds, when I removed it,
I was astonished not to see any blood, and only then realised
it was impossible anything could have struck me there, as I lay
fast asleep in bed, and so I thought it was only a dream ! but
I looked at my watch, and saw it was seven, and finding Arthur
(my husband) was not in the room, I concluded (rightly) that
he must have gone out on the lake for an early sail, as it was so
fine.

" I then fell asleep. At breakfast (half-past nine), Arthur
came in rather late, and I noticed he rather purposely sat

IDEAS AND EMOTIONS. 163

farther away from me than usual, and every now and then put
his pocket-handkerchief furtively up to his lip, in the very way
I had done. I said, * Arthur, why are you doing that ? ' and
added a little anxiously, * I know you've hurt yourself ! but I'll
tell you why afterwards.' He said, ' Well, when I was sailing, a
sudden squall came, throwing the tiller suddenly round, and it
struck me a bad blow in the mouth, under the upper lip, and it
has been bleeding a good deal and won't stop,' I then said,
'Have you any idea what o'clock it was when it happened?'
and he answered, ' It must have been about seven.'

" I then told what had happened to me> much to his surprise,
and all who were with us at breakfast.

"It happened here about three years ago at Brantwood,
to me.

"Jo AN R. SEVERN."

Mr. Severn wrote to us on the isth November
1883, giving an account of the trivial accident de-
scribed by the percipient, and adding that after leaving
the boat he

" walked up to the house, anxious of course to hide as much as
possible what had happened to my mouth, and getting another
handkerchief walked into the breakfast-room, and managed to
say something about having been out early. In an instant my
wife said, * You don't mean to say you have hurt your mouth ? '
or words to that effect. I then explained what had happened,
and was surprised to see some extra interest on her face, and
still more surprised when she told me she had started out of
her sleep thinking she had received a blow on the mouth 1 and
that it was a few minutes past seven o'clock, and wondered if
my accident had happened at the same time ; but as I had no
watch with me I couldn't tell, though, on comparing notes, it
certainly looked as if it had been about the same time.

"ARTHUR SEVERN."

(Phantasms of the Living, vol. i. pp, 188, 189.)

So far as I know, this is a unique instance, if we
limit ourselves to first-hand evidence, of the spon-
taneous transference of a sensation of pain to a
waking percipient 1 Impressions of the kind, indeed,
unless more definite and intense than the analogy oif
experiment gives us warrant for anticipating, would

1 Two other examples are referred to in Phantasms t vol. i, p. 189,
but in neither case is the evidence obtainable at first-hand.

164 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

as a rule be quickly forgotten, or would be naturally
ascribed to some other source than telepathy. We
owe the record of the present instance to the fortunate
chance that the agent and percipient met within an
hour of the occurrence, and that the pain of the
percipient, though slight, was not such as could be
readily attributed to ordinary causes. In the next
instance, also, where the impression belonged to a
different sense, the agent and percipient were in the
habit of meeting almost daily, otherwise it seems
possible that the coincidence would have escaped
notice.

No. 42. From Miss X.

The percipient was Miss X.; the agent was her
friend D., already referred to, who writes :

"April 13^, 1888.

" In the spring of 1881, in the evening after dinner, I acci-
dentally set fire to the curtains of a sitting-room, and put myself
and several others into some danger. The next morning, on
visiting X., I heard from her that she had been disturbed over-
night by an unaccountable smell of fire, which she could not
trace, but which seemed to follow her wherever she went. I
was led to discover the fire, and so probably to save the house,
by what seemed a chance thought of X. I had left the room,
unconscious of anything wrong, and had settled to my work else-
where, when I suddenly remembered I had not put away some
papers I had been looking at, and which I had thought might wait
for daylight, but a strong feeling that X. would insist upon
order, had she been there, induced me to go back, when I found
the whole place in flames."

Miss X., in describing the case, adds : " I took con-
siderable trouble to ascertain the cause (of the smell
of fire), and was quieted only by the assurance that
it was imperceptible to the rest of the household."
(Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. p. 367.)

When we leave these simple modes of feeling, and
consider the affections of the higher senses of hearing
and sight, we are confronted with a new problem.

IDEAS AND EMOTIONS. 165

Sensations of the first class are almost purely homo-
geneous, they owe little or nothing to memory and
imagination. Moreover, though generally due to an
external cause, they are in the case of smell or taste
occasionally, and in that of pain frequently, excited
by causes within the organism. It is not, therefore, a
matter calling for comment that in such cases the
transferred idea should assume a definitely sensory
form. But when the organs of sight or hearing are
sensibly affected, past experience has taught us to
look for an external cause; the line between idea and
sensation is here sharply drawn and clearly under-
stood. 1 The line, indeed, as drawn by common use
may not correspond to any real distinction in the
nature of the experience itself. Ideas may be only
paler sensations, and a train of thought nothing else
than a series of suppressed hallucinations. But at
any rate the distinction, whether fundamental or not,
serves a useful purpose as a rough-and-ready means
of classing our mental experiences. A visual or
auditory image either is on the same level of intensity
as the series of impressions which represent for us
the external world, or it falls below that level. In
the former case we call it a sensation or percept, in
the latter, an idea. Sensations and percepts may be
again subdivided, as objective or hallucinatory, accord-
ing as they do or do not correspond to a supposed
material cause. In the experiments described in the
first five chapters, it will have been observed that
when the transferred impression was of a visual
nature it generally remained ideal, rising occasionally,
however, as in some of the experiments with hypno-
tised percipients, and in Mr. Kirk's cases, to the level
of a complete sensory hallucination or quasi-percept.
In the present chapter it is proposed to deal with
auditory and visual phantasms which, so far as can

1 Except, of course, in cases of rudimentary hallucinations, such as
after-images and bright spots in the eyes and singing in the ears, which,
are caused by the physical condition of the external organ.

1 66 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

be judged, were of an ideal kind, though one or two
of the cases cited may seem to approximate to sensory
embodiment The more striking hallucinatory effects
will be reserved for later chapters.

Transference of Ideas.

There is one kind of coincidence, so common as to
have passed into a proverb, which is often referred to
as illustrating the action of telepathy; that is, the
idea of a person coming into the mind shortly before
the person himself actually approaches. In most of
the cases cited the coincidence is too indefinite to
call for attention, as it is obvious that the narrator
has not taken the elementary precaution of noting
the " misses " as well as the " hits." But if telepathy
acts at all, there is no a priori unlikelihood of its
acting in this direction as well as in others, and it is
to be desired that persons who believe themselves
susceptible to impressions of the kind would keep a
full record of their occurrence. Two instances which
happened in his own recent experience are recorded
by Professor Richet (Proceedings S.P.R., vol. v. p. 52).
Leaving such cases, however, as too indefinite to have
much evidential value, we may quote the following
as an example of an impression of a more detailed
kind,

No. 43. From Miss X.

On the I2th October 1891, Miss X. wrote to Mr.
Myers as follows:

"... I was much upset yesterday by the consciousness that
a Master B. (son of A. B.) had arrived unexpectedly upon the
scene ... no nurse doctor three miles off husband away.
Being Sunday, I could not telegraph, but the news as to hour
and sex arrived this morning. My impression was at 2.30
onwards. He arrived at 3.30, and in the interval I heard her
voice over and over again calling my name. All is well now,
but these impressions are not always comfortable."

IDEAS AND EMOTIONS. 167

In a later letter Miss X. writes:

"A.'s own account is that (about two, I think), when she was
made aware of her danger, the thought passed through her
mind how fortunate it was that the impossibility of telegraphing
would prevent anxiety at home, and then that any way /
should know. No one expected to have any cause for anxiety
for at least a week. Yes ; I ought to have sent to Mrs.
Sidgwick, but I was so wretchedly ill that don't shudder I
never at the time even thought of the S.P.R. I had been
dreadfully worried all that week, and was utterly worn out."

The coincidence is, no doubt, not of the strongest
kind. But in estimating its value it should not be
overlooked that the impression was sufficiently intense
to produce a decided feeling of discomfort. And
though Miss X. unfortunately omitted to send an
account of her experience until after she had learnt
of its partial correspondence with the event, she did
not know at the time when the first letter was written
that her impression was correct as regards the details
of the absence of husband and nurse. Whatever the
value of the coincidence, therefore, it seems clear that
the account owes nothing to exaggeration or uncon-
scious reading back of details. With this may be
compared a narrative sent to me in December 1891,
by the Rev. A. Sloman, Master of Birkenhead School.
On the 1 2th of the month, whilst Mrs. Sloman was
absent at a concert, a chimney in the school-house
had caught fire, and Mr. Sloman had been summoned
from his work to give directions for dealing with the
mischief. On the matter being mentioned to Mrs.
Sloman on her return, she at once explained that
during the concert, just about the actual time of the
fire, u I suddenly began to think what you would do if
the house took fire, and I distinctly pictured you going
into the kitchen and speaking about a wet blanket"
The account was written down and signed by both
Mr. and Mrs. Sloman on the day of the occurrence,
and the coincidence in time between event and
impression seems to be well established. It must

168 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

be admitted that the apprehension of fire may not
improbably have a more or less permanent pl^ce
in the/ background of a housewife's consciousness;
still, even a slight outbreak of fire is not in an
ordinary household a matter of common occurrence.
7'he next case is interesting as presenting evidence
of the transference of an auditory impression. The
Account was originally published in the Spectator of
June 24th, 1882:

No. 44. From MRS. BARBER.

"FERNDENE, ABBEYDALE, near SHEFFIELD,

June 22nd, 1882.

" I had one day been spending the morning- in shopping, and
returned by train just in time to sit down with my children to
our early family dinner. My youngest child a sensitive, quick-
witted little maiden of two years and six weeks old was one of
the circle. Dinner had just commenced, when I suddenly recol-
lected an incident in my morning's experience which I had
intended to tell her, and I looked at the child with the full
intention of saying, * Mother saw a big black dog in a shop,
with curly hair/ catching her eyes in mine, as I paused an
instant before speaking. Just then something called off my
attention, and the sentence was not uttered. What was my
amazement, about two minutes afterwards, to hear my little
lady announce, * Mother saw a big dog in a shop.' I gasped.
'Yes, I did 1 ' I answered; 'but how did you know?' 'With
funny hair,' she added, quite calmly, and ignoring my question.
'What colour was it, Evelyn?' said one of her elder brothers;
* was it black ? > She said, c Yes.' "

I called on Mrs. Barber in the spring of 1886, and
heard full details of the incident from herself and Mr.
Barber, who, though not himself present at the time,
was conversant with the facts. The incident took
place on January 6th, 1882, and Mrs. Barber allowed
me to see the note-book in which the account (sub-
stantially reproduced in the Spectator] was written
down on January nth. Of course there is always
the possibility in a case of this kind that the lips may
have unconsciously begun to form the words, but in
the present instance it seems unlikely that any indica-
tion of the kind would have escaped the notice of the

IDEAS AND* EMOTIONS. 169

others present at the table. Mrs. Barber has given us
other accounts, extracted from her journal, of thought-
transference, in which the same percipient was con-
cerned. She writes on December 26th, 1886:

"On Wednesday J. went to London, and on getting his

breakfast at a little inn in C , he found a 'blackclock' (i.e.,

cockroach) floating in his coffee. He fished it out and supposed
it was all right, but on pursuing the coffee he got one in his
mouth ! Next day, at breakfast, he said, ' What's the most
horrible thing that could happen to any one at breakfast? I
don't mean getting killed, or anything of that sort.' E. looked
at him for a moment and said, ' To have a blackclock in your
coffee 1 '

" She was asleep in bed when her father returned the night
before, and they met at the breakfast-table for the first time the
next morning, when the question was asked cjuite suddenly.
When asked how she came to think of it, she said, * I looked at
the bacon-dish, and thought a blackclock in the bacon, no, he
would see that it must have been in the coffee.'

" She has a special horror of 'blackclocks,' so the incident may
merely have been one of the numerous instances of her unusually
quick wit.

"CAROLINE BARBER,"

Transference of Mental Pictures.

The next three narratives are interesting as illus-
trating three different stages in the externalisation
of visual impressions. In the first case, which is
quoted from the Proceedings of the American S.P.R.
(pp. 444, 445), the impression seems to have been
almost of the nature of an illusion />., the idea
emerged into consciousness only when a somewhat
similar image was presented to the external organ
of vision. 1

1 See case No. 51, later; and compare Mr. Galton's observations
in his lecture at the Royal Institution on " The Just Perceptible Differ-
ence " (reported in the Times, January 3oth, 1893). Mr. Gallon
found that the ideal auditory impressions called up by reading the
printed substance of a lecture enabled him to hear the lecturer's voice
at a greater distance than when he had not the printed text before
him; the ideal appears to have supplemented the real impression, as,
in the case given in the text, the real reinforced the ideal*

170 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE,

No. 45. From MR. HAYNES.
In a letter to Mr. Hodgson, Mr. Haynes writes :

"BOSTON, June 25, 1887.

" The name of the prisoner alluded to has passed from my
recollection. He belonged in East Boston, and was sentenced
for life for an assault upon a woman. I think he was pardoned
some years ago, but am not certain about it. He had but one
child, a boy about five years old, who always came with his wife
to visit him. He seemed very fond of the child, always held him
in his arms during the visit, and showed a good deal of feeling
at parting.

"The following is an account of the affair made at the
time :

" 'The following very singular incident I can vouch for as
having actually occurred. I refer to it, not to illustrate a super-
natural or any other unusual agency, as I am a sceptic in such
matters, but as a remarkable instance of hallucination or pre-
sentiment.

" ' I received a message from the wife of one of our convicts, in
prison for life, that their only child, a bright little boy five years
old, was dead, he having accidentally fallen into the water and
been drowned. I was requested to communicate to the father
the death of the child, but not the cause, as the wife preferred
to tell him herself when she should visit him a week or two
later.

" * I sent for him to the guard-room, and after a few questions
in regard to himself, I said I had some sad news for him. He
quickly replied, " I know what it is, Mr. Warden ; my boy is
dead 1 " *< How did you hear of it ?" I asked. " Oh, I knew
it was so ; he was drowned, was he not, Mr. Warden ? "
" But who informed you of it ? " I again asked. " No one,"
he replied. "How, then, did you know he was dead, and
what makes you think he was drowned?" "Last Sunday,"
he said, " your little boy was in the chapel ; he fell asleep,
and you took him up and held him. As I looked up and
caught sight of him lying in your arms, instantly the thought
occurred to me that my boy was dead drowned. In vain I
tried to banish it from my mind, to think of something else,
but could not ; the tears came into my eyes, and it has been
ringing in my ears ever since ; and when you sent for me, my
heart sunk within me, for I felt sure my fears were to be con-
firmed."

" * What made it more remarkable was the fact that the child
was missed during the forenoon of that Sunday, but the body
was not found for some days after.'

IDEAS AND -EMOTIONS, 171

"The foregoing is copied from my journal, the entry made on
the day of the interview, and I can assure you is strictly correct
in every particular.

" GIDEON HAYNES."

In answer to inquiries as to the name and address
of the percipient, Mr. Haynes writes :

" His name was Timothy Cronan. He was pardoned in 1873
or 1874. Mr. Darling, the officer in the guard-room to-day,
occupied the same position when I had the interview with
Cronan. He was present, and remembers distinctly all the
circumstances of the case, which were discussed by us at the
time. Cronan served some ten or twelve years. . . . He has
not been heard from at the prison since his discharge."

In this case it may perhaps be inferred, from the
circumstances of its occurrence, that the impression
was of a rudimentary visual character.

In the next case it seems clear that the percipient
saw what she described, but the impression appears
to have been of a purely inward nature.

No. 46. From PROFESSOR RlCHET.

" On Monday, July 2nd, 1888, after having passed all the clay
in my laboratory, I hypnotised Le*onie at 8 P.M., and while she
tried to make out a diagram concealed in an envelope I said to
her quite suddenly : * What has happened to M. Langlois ? '
Leonie knows M. Langlois from having seen him two or three
times some time ago in my physiological laboratory, where he
acts as my assistant. ' He has burnt himself/ Leonie replied.
1 Good/ I said, ' and where has he burnt himself? * * On the

left hand. It is not fire: it is I don't know its name. Why

does he not take care when he pours it out?' 'Of what
colour,* I asked, 'is the stuff which he pours out? 1 'It is
not red, it is brown ; he has hurt himself very much the skin
puffed up directly.*

" Now, this description is admirably exact. At 4 P.M. that day
M. Langlois had wished to pour some bromine into a bottle.
He had done this clumsily, so that some of the bromine flowed
on to his left hand, which held the funnel, and at once burnt
him severely. Although he at once put his hand into water,
wherever the bromine had touched it a blister was formed in a
few seconds a blister which one could not better describe than
by saying, ' the skin puffed up.* I need not say that Ldonie
had not left my house, nor seen any one from my laboratory.

172 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Of this I am absolutely certain^ and I am certain that I had not
mentioned the incident of the burn to any one. Moreover, this
was the first time for nearly a year that M. Langlois had
handled bromine, and when Ldonie saw him six months before
at the laboratory he was engaged in experiments of quite
another kind." (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. pp. 69, 70.)

In the next case the mental picture seems to have
been much more vivid than the visions of distant
familiar scenes, or faces, which most of us can sum-
mon up by an effort of will ; in fact, the impression
probably approached very nearly to a hallucination.
It is noteworthy, however, that it did not apparently
form part of the external order, but replaced it. We
have no means therefore of measuring the degree of
vividness.

No. 47. From DR. G. DUPRE.

" REIMS, July 6//&, 1891.

"One day in May 1890, I had just been visiting a patient,
and was coming downstairs, when suddenly I had the impres-
sion that my little girl of four years old had fallen down the
stone stairs of my house, and hurt herself.

" Then gradually after the first impression, as though a curtain
which hid the sight from me were slowly drawn back, I saw my
child lying at the foot of the stairs, with her chin bleeding, but
I had no impression of hearing her cries.

" The vision was blotted out suddenly, but the memory of it
remained with me. I took note of the hour 10.30 A.M. and
continued my professional rounds.

" When I got home I much astonished my family by giving
a description of the accident, and naming the hour when it
occurred.

" The circumstance made a great impression on me, and my
memory of it is quite clear.

"Dr. G, DUPRE."

In a further letter Dr. Dupr adds :

" REIMS, August ind, 1891.

"The account which I have > given you is exact in every point.
Madame Dupre* remembers it perfectly. As I had a great
many visits to pay that day I did not return home at once, but
continued my rounds. I took particular note of the time, how-
ever, and it was found to be exact.

IDEAS AND EMOTIONS.

" This phenomenon of perception seemed to me so curious
that I noted all the particulars, in order to analyse them at my
leisure.

" When I got home my first words were these, addressed to
my wife, ' Loulou is hurt. Is it serious?' Madame Dupre*
exclaimed, * Who told you ? ' 'No one,' I replied ; ' I saw her
fall,' and then while examining my little girl I told my wife
about the vision.

" I did not relate the circumstance to any one else but my
father-in-law, Dr. Bracon, and he did not take it very seriously.
Indeed, I was not inclined to lay much stress upon the matter
either, as I did not wish to be considered visionary or credulous."

Madame Dupr writes :

" 2$th September 1891.

" My husband's account of his telepathic experience is per-
fectly correct. For my own part I was extremely surprised at
the circumstances, for till then my attitude towards all questions
of clairvoyance had been one of almost complete incredulity.
Let me add, however, that my husband is of an excessively
nervous temperament, and was liable to somnambulism in his
youth. It is seldom that a night passes in which he does not
talk in his sleep. It would be quite possible to hold a conversa-
tion with him for a few minutes whilst he is in this condition."
(Annales des Sciences Psychiques, vol. i. pp. 324, 325.)

It seems permissible to conjecture that in this case
Madame Dupr6, as in the previous case Professor
Richet, was the agent.

Transference of Emotion.

Sometimes the telepathic impulse appears to ex-
press itself in a vague feeling of alarm or distress. Of
course, impressions of this sort, with no definite con-
tent, and not recognised at the time as having
reference to any particular person, can do little to
strengthen the proof of telepathy. But when it has
been shown, by the mention of the experience before-
hand, or by any unusual action consequent on its
occurrence, that the emotion was unique in the history
of the percipient, and when the coincidence with a
serious crisis is clearly established, the telepathic

1/4 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

explanation may be admitted as at least plausible.
These conditions appeared to be fulfilled in the follow-
ing case, which is quoted from the Proceedings of
the American S.P.R. (pp. 474> 475)-

No. 48. From MR. F. H. KREBS.

The percipient in this case described his experience
to Professor William James, of Harvard, who writes
as follows :

" Mr. Krebs (special student) stopped after the logic lesson of
Friday, November 26, and told me the facts related in his
narrative.

" I advised him to put them on paper, which he has thus
done.

" His father is said by him to be too much injured to do any
writing at present.

5 r "WM. JAMES.

"December^ 1886."

From MR. F. H. KREBS.

"On the afternoon of Wednesday, November 24, I was
very uneasy, could not sit still, and wandered about the whole
afternoon with little purpose. This uneasiness was unaccount-
able ; but instead of wearing away it increased, and after return-
ing to my room at about 6.45 it turned into positive fear, I
fancied that there was some one continually behind me, and,
although I turned my chair around several times, this feeling
remained. At last I got up and went into my bedroom, looked
under the bed and into the closet; finding nothing, I came back
into the room and looked behind the curtains. Satisfied that
there was nothing present to account for my fancy, I sat down
again, when instantly the peculiar sensation recurred ; and at
last, finding it unbearable, I went down to a friend's room, where
I remained the rest of the evening. To him I expressed my
belief that this sensation was a warning sent to show me that
some one of my family had been injured or killed.

"While 'jn his room the peculiar sensation ceased, and,
despite my nervousness, I was in no unusual state of mind ;
but on returning to my room to go to bed it returned with
renewed force. On the next day (the 25th), on coming to my
grandfather's, I found out that the day before (the 24th), at a
little past 12, my father had jumped from a moving train
and been severely injured. While I do not think that this warn-
ing was direct enough to convince sceptics that I was warned

IDEAS AND EMOTIONS.

of my father's mishap, I certainly consider that it is curious
enough to demand attention. I have never before had the
same peculiar sensation that there was some being besides
myself in an apparently empty room, nor have I ever before
been so frightened and startled at absolutely nothing.

" On questioning my father, he said that before the accident
he was not thinking of me, but that at the very moment that it
happened his whole family seemed to be before him, and he
saw them as distinctly as if there.

" F. H. KREBS, JUN.

"November 29, 1886."

From MR. CHAUNCEY SMITH, JUN.

" I, the undersigned, distinctly remember that F. H. Krebs,
Jun., came into my room November 24 and complained of being
very nervous. I cannot remember exactly what he said, as I
was studying at the time, and did not pay much attention to his
talk.

" On the 25th he came into my room in the evening, and
made a statement that his state the evening before was the con-
sequence of an accident that happened to his father, and that
he had the night before told me that he had received a warning
of some accident to some one dear to him. This I did not
contradict, because I consider that it is extremely probable that
he said it, and that I did not, through inattention, notice it.

" CHAUNCEY SMITH, JUN."

The present case well illustrates the difficulties
attendant on any efforts to procure reliable con-
temporary evidence for psychical events. Even when,
as here, the percipient himself took the right course,
from the standpoint of psychical research, his fore-
thought was to a great extent frustrated by the short-
comings of his friend.

With this narrative may be compared three cases
given in Phantasms of the Living (vol. i. pp. 280 et
seq^) of the occurrence of exceptional distress to one
twin at the time of the death of the other. Mr.
Leveson Gower has sent us an account of a similar
marked fit of depression, accompanied by " a vivid
sense of the presence of death," which coincided with
the quite sudden and unlooked-for death of a near rela-
tion, the late Lady Marion Alford. (Journal S.P.R.,
May 1888.) Professor Tamburini records an analogous

APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

case. A lunatic died in the asylum at Reggio on the
2ist May 1892. A letter of inquiry, dated the 22nd
May, was received at the asylum from the husband,
who had not previously written for more than a year;
and it was ascertained that he was prompted to write
the letter by a feeling of " great discomfort, as though
some misfortune were about to befall him/ 1 experi-
enced on the previous day, the day of the death.

No. 49. From Dr N., of New York State.

The next case is specially interesting, because the
emotion which was felt in the first instance was suc-
ceeded by a visual impression of a detailed kind.
This case again comes to us from America (Proc. Am.
S.P.R., pp. 397-400). Dr. N., the percipient, writes
to Professor Royce as follows:

[Postmarked Aug. 16, 1886,]

"In the convalescence from a malarial fever during which
great hyperaesthesia of brain had obtained, but no hallu-
cinations or false perceptions, I was sitting alone in my
room looking out of the window. My thoughts were of in-
different trivialities ; after a time my mind seemed to become
absolutely vacant ; my eyes felt fixed, the air seemed to
grow white. I could see objects about me, but it was a
terrible effort of will to perceive anything. I then felt great
and painful sense as of sympathy with some one suffering, who
or where I did not know. After a little time I knew with whom,
but how I knew I cannot tell ; for it seemed some time after
this knowledge of personality that I saw distinctly, in my brain,
not before my eyes, a large, square room, evidently in a hotel,
and saw the person of whom I had been conscious, lying face
downward on the bed in the throes of mental and physical
anguish. I felt rather than heard sobs and grieving, and felt
conscious of the nature of the grief subjectively; its objective
cause was not transmitted to me. Extreme exhaustion followed
the experience, which lasted forty minutes intensely, and then
very slowly wore away. Let me note :

"ist. I had not thought of the person for some time and there
was no reminder in the room.

<c 2nd. The experience was remembered with more vividness
than that seen in the normal way, while the contrary is true of
dreams.

IDEAS AND EMOTIONS. 177

"3rd. The natural order of perception was reversed, t.e. 9 the
emotion came first, the sense of a personality second, the vision
or perception of the person third.

"I should be glad to have a theory given of this reverse in the
natural order of perception."

The agent, M., is well known to both Professor
Royce and Dr. Hodgson. In the report it is stated
that " there can be no doubt of his high character and
general good judgment/' He writes as follows :

"BOSTON, Nov. i6th, 1886.

" Some years ago, perhaps eight or nine, while in a city of
Rhode Island on business, my house being then, as now, in
Boston, I received news which was most unexpected and dis-
tressing to me, affecting me so seriously that I retired to my
room at the hotel, a large square room, and threw myself upon
my bed, face downward, remaining there a long time in great
mental distress. The acuteness of the feeling after a time
abating, I left the room. I returned next day to Boston, and
the day after that received a short letter from the person whose
statement I enclose herewith, and dated at the town in Western
New York, from which her enclosed letter comes. The note
begged me to tell her without delay what was the matter with
me 'on Friday, at 2 o'clock/ the very day and hour when I
was affected as I have described.

"This lady was a somewhat familiar acquaintance and friend,
but I had not heard from her for many months previous to this
note, and I do not know that any thought of her had come into
my mind for a long time. I should still further add that the
news which had so distressed me had not the slightest con-
nection with her.

" I wrote at once, stating that she was right as to her im-
pression (she said in her letter that she was sure I was in very
great trouble at the time mentipned), and expressed my surprise
at the whole affair.

"Twice since that time she has written to me, giving me
some impression in regard to my condition or situation, both
referring to cases of illness or suffering of some kind, and both
timespher impressions have proved correct enough to be con-
sidered remarkable, yet not so exact in detail or distinctness as
the first time. I feel confident that I have her original letter,
but have not been able to command the time necessary to find it.

" (Signed) M.

"P.S. The three occurrences above detailed comprise all the
experiences of this sort which I have had in my life."

12

178 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Mr. M. has searched in vain for the original letter
of Dr. N. referring to the incident Two letters,
however, referring to one of the later experiences
mentioned by him have been found, and copies of
them, made by Dr. Hodgson on June 6th, 1887, are
given below.

DR. N. to MR. M.

" DOCTOR'S

(Year not given).
"If I don't hear from you to-morrow, I shall write you a

letter ! I am anxious about you.

N>

(2.)

MR. M. to DR. N.

" BOSTON, 7^/x 26, 1883.

" What clairvoyant vision again told you of me Monday and
Tuesday and Wednesday ? Was it as vivid and real as the
other time ? It had, at least, a very closely related cause.

" It is past i A.M., but I will not go to bed till I have sent you
a word. A letter will follow very soon. For two days I have
been thinking of the way you wrote to me that time, and I
should have written to you within twenty-four hours if I had not
received the note from you. Please write to me as you proposed.
This is only to tell you that I am alive and not ill, but tired,
tired ! Tell me of yourself. I have had a hard three months
in the West, eighteen to twenty hours a day, scarce a respite
I am not ill ; I am sure I am not, but I am worked out. I
couldn't get to - or write.

" I used the telegraph even with my sisters.

" I hope for a letter, and will surely send you one.

" Yours,

" M."

These letters, which apparently relate to the second
of the three experiences mentioned by M., afford
incidentally strong corroboration of the accuracy of
the statements made as to the first and most remark-
able experience.

Several instances have been already published

IDEAS AND EMOTIONS. 179

(Phantasms of the Living, vol. ii. pp. 3^S-37o) of
what appears to be telepathic affection, in which there
was no apparent link to connect the agent and per-
cipient Thus intimation of the deaths of three dukes
Cambridge, Portland, and Wellington was con-
veyed to complete strangers, A similar impression
is recorded (Journal S.P.&., Nov. 1892) as affecting
a stranger at the death of Lord Tennyson, and a
somewhat similar instance is recorded (Journal, May
1892) in connection with the death of General the
Hon. Sir Leicester Smyth. The Head-master of a
Grammar School in Leicester saw in a vision the irrup-
tion of water into the Thames Tunnel (Phantasms, loc.
tit}. In all these cases, if we accept the incidents as
telepathic, they recall, as Mr. Gurney remarks, " the
Greek notion of tfnjfw?, the Rumour which spreads from
some unknown source, and far outstrips all known
means of transport." The evidence so far adduced,
however, is by no means sufficient to establish any
such conclusion. But the following narrative, which
comes from a lady well known to me, is worth con-
sidering in this connection.

No. 50. From Miss Y.

"PERTH, \^th January 1890.

" One Sunday evening I was writing to my sister, in my own
room, and a wild storm was raging round the house (in Perth).
Suddenly an eerie feeling came over me, I could not keep my
thoughts on my letter, ideas of death and disaster haunted me
so persistently. It was a vague but intense feeling ; a sudden
ghastly realisation of human tragedy, with no 'where/ 'how,'
or ' when ' about it.

" I remember flying upstairs to seek refuge with my mother,
and I remember her soothing voice saying, ' Nonsense, child/
when I insisted that I was sure ' lots of people were dying.'

" We both thought it was a little nervous attack, and thought
no more about it. But when we heard the news of the Tay
Bridge disaster next day, we both noticed (we received the
news separately from the maid when she came to wake us) that
the time of the accident coincided with my strange experience
of the evening before.

180 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE,

" We spoke of the * coincidence ' together, but did not attach
much importance to it.

" I have never had any experience like it, before or since."

Mrs. Y., in a letter of the same date, corroborates
her daughter's statement. Mrs. Y.'s account, it should
be added, was written without previous consultation
with Miss Y., and embodies her independent recollec-
tion of the incident.

" On the night of the Tay Bridge disaster A. was sitting alone
in her room, when she suddenly came running upstairs to me,
saying that she had heard shrieks in the air ; that something
dreadful must have happened, for the air seemed full of shrieks.
She thought a great many people must be dying. Next morn-
ing the milk-boy told the servant that the Tay Bridge was
down."

In a later letter, Miss Y. adds :

" My mother says she cannot remember my having any other
experience of the kind. It happened before 9 P.M., we think."

From the Times of December 29th, 1879 (Monday), it
appears that the accident took place on the previous evening
(28th). The Edinburgh train, due at Dundee at 7. 1 5 P.M., crossed
the bridge during a violent gale. It was duly signalled from the
Fife side as having entered on the bridge for Dundee at 7.14.
It was seen running along the rails, and then suddenly there was
observed a flash of fire. The opinion was the train then left the
rails and went over the bridge.

Motor Impulses.

Occasionally the telepathic impression manifests
itself to consciousness as a monition or impulse to
perform a certain action. There is no ground for
thinking in such a case that the idea transferred from
the agent has in itself any special impulsive quality.
The impulse towards action is no doubt the result of
the percipient's unconscious reasoning on the infor-
mation supplied to him.

Sometimes the impulse to action, though strong, is
vague and inarticulate. Thus Mrs. Hadselle, of Pitts-
field, Mass., U.S. A., narrates {Journal S.P.R., May

IDEAS AND EMOTIONS. i8l

1891) that some years ago she experienced, when
spending the evening with some friends, "a sudden
and unaccountable desire to go home, accompanied
by a dread and fear of something, I knew not what."
She eventually yielded to her impulse, and at some
inconvenience returned home, just in time to rescue
her son, who was insensible through the smoke from
a fire of wet sticks in his room. Professor Venturi
(Annales des Set. Psy. y vol. iii. pp. 331-333) relates
that in July 1885, in obedience to an irresistible
impulse, he made a sudden and quite unpremeditated
journey from Pozzuoli to his home at Nocera, to find
his child in serious danger from a sudden attack of
croup. A case is recorded in the Proc. Am. S.P.R.
(pp. 227, 228), in which a lady living in a Western
State awoke in the night of January 3oth-3ist, 1886,
with a strong feeling that her daughter in Washington
was ill and needed her, and in the morning tele-
graphed to her son-in-law, offering to come at once.
There had been no previous cause of anxiety on the
mother's part, but as a matter of fact the daughter
had been taken suddenly and seriously ill on that
night. A letter and the telegram relating to the
event have been preserved. In another case Lady de
Vesci, in 1872, telegraphed on a sudden impulse from
Ireland to a friend in Hong Kong. The telegram
arrived less than twenty-four hours before the re-
cipient's death, an event which Lady de Vesci had
no reason to anticipate for some months (Journal
S.P.R., October 1891).,

In another case, also recorded by Mrs. Hadselle
(loc. cit.\ the impulse took the form of a voice bidding
her go to a certain town, where, as it appeared, an
intimate friend stood in urgent need of her. The
effect produced in this case was so strong that the
percipient actually bought a fresh railway ticket and
changed her route. In the following case the impulse
found a more unusual mode of expression viz., utter-
ance on the part of the percipient.

I 2 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-f RANSFERENC2.

No. 51. From ARCHDEACON BRUCE.

"ST. WOOLOS' VICARAGE, NEWPORT,

MONMOUTHSHIRE, July 6t/t, 1892.

" On April iQth, Easter Tuesday, I went to Ebbw Vale to
preach at the opening of a new iron church in Beaufort parish.

" I had arranged that Mrs. Bruce and my daughter should
drive in the afternoon.

" The morning- service and public luncheon over, I walked up
to the Vicarage at Ebbw Vale to call on the Vicar. As I went
there I heard the bell of the new church at Beaufort ringing
for afternoon service at three. It had stopped some little time
before I reached the Vicarage (of Ebbw Vale). The Vicar was
out, and it struck me that I might get back to the Beaufort new
church in time to hear some of the sermon before my train left
(at 4.35). On my way back through Ebbw Vale, and not far
from the bottom of the hill on which the Ebbw Vale Vicarage
is placed, I saw over a provision shop one of those huge, staring
Bovril advertisements the familiar large ox-head. 1 had seen
fifty of them before, but something fascinated me in connection
with this particular one. I turned to it, and was moved to
address it in these, my ipsissima verba: 'You ugly brute, don't
stare at me like that : has some accident happened to the
wife ? ' Just the faintest tinge of uneasiness passed through me
as I spoke, but it vanished at once. This must have been as
nearly as possible 3.20. I reached home at six to find the
vet. in my stable-yard tending my poor horse, and Mrs. Bruce
and my daughter in a condition of collapse in the house. The
accident had happened so Mrs. Bruce thinks precisely at
3.30, but she is not confident of the moment. My own times I
can fix precisely.

" I had no reason to fear any accident, as my coachman had
driven them with the same horse frequently, and save a little
freshness at starting, the horse was always quiet on the road,
even to sluggishness. A most unusual occurrence set it off. A
telegraph operator, at the top of a telegraph post, hauled up a
long flashing coil^of wire under the horse's nose. Any horse in
the world, except' the Troy horse, would have bolted under the
circumstances.

" My wife's estimate of the precise time can only be taken as
approximate. She saw the time when she got home, and took
that as her zero, but the confusion and excitement of the walk
home from the scene of the accident leaves room for doubt as
to her power of settling the time accurately. The accident
happened about 2# miles from home, and she was home by
4.10 ; but she was some time on the ground waiting until the
horse was disengaged, etc. "W. CON YBEARE BRUCE."

IDEAS AND EMOTIONS. 183

Archdeacon Bruce adds later :

"May 2otk, 1893.

" I think I stated the fact that the impression of danger to
Mrs. Bruce was only momentary it passed at once and it was
only when I heard of the accident that I recalled the impression.
I did not therefore go home expecting to find that anything had
happened. "W. CONYBEARE BRUCE."

Mrs. Bruce writes :

"The first thought that flashed across me as the accident
happened was, * What will W. say ? ' My ruling idea then was
to get home before my husband, so as to save him alarm."

The Rev. A. T. Fryer, to whom the incident was
originally communicated by the percipient, ascertained
independently from the Vicar of Ebbw Vale that the
date of Archdeacon Bruce's visit to him was April igth,
1892. It is worth noting that here, as in case 45, an
external object appears to have acted as a point de
repere, and to have thus aided in the development of the
transferred idea. Another instance of a telepathic im-
pulse leading to speech is to be found in the Annales
des Sciences Psychiques (vol. i. p. 36). The Lady
Superior of a convent was moved during the cele-
bration of a service to pray for the safety of the
children of a neighbour a visitor to the convent
who was somewhat startled by the Superior's abrupt
action. It subsequently appeared that at about the
time of this prayer the two boys were involved in $
carriage accident.

The most striking evidence, however, of telepath-
ically induced action is to be found in automatic
writing. Some experimental cases of the kind have
been quoted in Chapter IV. The spontaneous cases
are more numerous. Mr. Myers has recorded several
instances in his article on Motor Automatism (Proc.
S.P.R., vol. ix. pp. 26 et seq.\ and Mr. W. T. Stead
has published, in the Review of Reviews and else-
where, accounts of messages and conversations with
friends at a distance written through his hand.

1 84 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Generally speaking, however, where living persons
are concerned, it is difficult, without full knowledge
of all the circumstances, to feel assured that the facts
recorded by this means are not such as might
conceivably have been within the knowledge of the
writer, or at least within his powers of conjecture.
The best evidence, therefore, for spontaneous tele-
pathic automatism is no doubt afforded by those
cases in which some altogether unforeseen event,
such as the death of the presumed agent, is communi-
cated. Such is the case recorded by M. Aksakof
(Psyckische Studien } February 1889, quoted in Proc.
S.P.R., vol. v. pp. 434, etc.), in which Mademoiselle
Emma Stramm, a Swiss governess at Wilna, on the
1 5th January 1887 wrote particulars of the death on the
same day of a former acquaintance of hers, August
Duvanel, in Canton Zurich. A similar instance is
recorded by Dr. Ltebeault (Annales des Sciences
PsychiqueS) vol. i. pp. 25, 26). The automatic writer
was in this case at Nancy, and the person whose
death was announced was a young English lady resi-
dent at Coblentz. Dr. Li6beault was shown the written
message within an hour or two of the stance, and
some days before news of the death was received.
Other cases of the kind are recorded by M. Aksakof
and others (Revue Spirite, August 1891, April 1892,
etc.).

CHAPTER VIII.

COINCIDENT DREAMS.

SEEING that so large a part of our lives is spent in
sleep, we should perhaps be warranted in looking
amongst dreams for evidence of the transference of
thought from one mind to another ; especially as the
quiescence and the absence of outward impressions
characteristic of sleep are precisely the conditions
indicated by our researches as favourable to such
transmission. Nor do the actual results in this
direction at all fall short of any reasonable ex-
pectation. Long before scientific attention was
directed to the subject the coincidences reported
between dreams and external events had won the
special consideration of the superstitious, and had
given to the dreamer of dreams high rank in the
company of the prophets and soothsayers. And
such coincidences appear to be not less frequent at
the present time. My chief difficulty in writing this
chapter has been the task of selection from the super-
abundant material at hand, much of it accumulated
within the last five or six years ; and this material
is itself the carefully-sifted residuum of a much larger
mass of testimony, inferior, if at all, by slight and
various degrees. But notwithstanding this great ac-
cumulation, it cannot be contended that the proof of
telepathy derived from a consideration of dream coin-
cidences is at all comparable in cogency with that
furnished by impressions received during waking life.

1 86 At>t>AkiTioNS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

That some at least of the dreams quoted below owed
their origin to ideas transmitted to the sleeper from
another mind will no doubt be admitted as probable,
but the probability depends perhaps not more on their
intrinsic value than on the analogy of similar testimony
from waking percipients. When (as in some of the
cases to be given later, in Chapters X.-XIII.) a witness
of integrity asserts that he saw in broad daylight a
figure where no such figure was, resembling a friend,
and coincident with that friend's death, we are justi-
fied in attaching great weight to the coincidence.
But if the same witness had dreamt of the figure,
instead of seeing it, the coincidence would deserve
far less consideration. And yet the cerebral mechan-
ism involved in both processes is no doubt very
similar. A dream is a hallucination in sleep, and
a hallucination is only a waking dream ; though it
is probable that the waking impression, seeing that
it can contend on equal terms with the impressions
derived from external objects, is more vivid than the
common run of dreams. But the evidence of dream
coincidence is defective, primarily, from the frequency
of dreams ; it is only a small proportion of educated
persons, at any rate, who ever experience a hallucina-
tion, but everybody dreams occasionally, and some
persons dream every night. Clearly there must be
here a wide scope for coincidence. Secondly, whilst
dream impressions are probably less vivid at the
time, they are certainly more elusive in the memory.
There is a serious risk, therefore, that after the event
is known detailed correspondences may be read back
into the indistinct picture preserved in the memory;
or that a dream which at the time made but a slight
impression may be charged retrospectively with emo-
tional significance. Finally, as the dream does not
enter into any organic series of impressions, and has
no landmarks of its own, either in space or time, it
becomes after the lapse of a few days, or even hours,
a matter of difficulty to determine its date. Against

C6lNCiDENf DREAMS. 18/

the last two sources of error it is indeed possible
to guard. Under ordinary circumstances no dream
should be regarded as having evidential value which
has not been either recorded in writing or mentioned
to some other person before the coincidence is known.
Mention of the dream immediately after the receipt
of the news, even with persons of proved accuracy, can
by no means be regarded as equivalent to mention
of it beforehand. For it is possible, as already
pointed out (p. 155), that some alleged coincident
and prophetic dreams may be due to hallucination
of memory, or still more probably to the embel-
lishment and amplification of vague pre-existent
memories.

But however carefully dreams are noted and
described, the objection still holds good that with
impressions of such frequent occurrence chance alone
will account for a considerable number of coinci-
dences. It is easy, however, on a superficial view
to exaggerate the probabilities of chance coincidence.
The great majority of dreams, vague at the time and
fugitive in the retrospect, are like footsteps in the
sand. Yet as, here and there, one set of footprints out
of the millions impressed upon the shore of a long-
forgotten sea has been preserved for us in sand now
turned to stone, so now and then one dream stands
out from all the rest, and leaves on the memory an
imprint which the daily reflux of the tide of con-
sciousness cannot efface. If we strike out of the
account all the dreams which are too vague to leave
any permanent impress on waking, all those which
are purely inconsequent and fantastic, and all which
can be readily traced to some physical cause, we shall
find that the number which we have to deal with,
the number, that is, of vivid and passably realistic
dreams, though no doubt large, is perhaps not
beyond the range of definite calculation. It could
not, for instance, be plausibly contended that the
correspondence of a dream such as that of Captain

1 88 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

&

Campbell's, recorded below, with the death of the
person portrayed, is on the same level as the pro-
phetic vision of the City clerk, who, dreaming every
other night of the success of some horse which he has
backed, happens on some one occasion to dream of
the future winner.

It will be observed that of the nine dreams which
are given in full in this chapter, no less than four are
concerned with death. Of the much larger number
149 of coincident dreams published in Phantasms of
the Living, no less than 79 relate to a death. Now, as
dreams of death or suggesting death do not form a
large proportion of dreams in general, their startling
preponderance amongst coincident dreams constitutes
in itself an argument for ascribing such dreams to tele-
pathy; for if any power exists whereby one mind can
affect another, it would appear a priori probable that
such a power would be exercised most frequently and
effectually at times of exceptional crisis. As has
been pointed out by Mr. Gurney (Phantasms of the
Living; vol. i. p. 303), the preponderance amongst
"true" dreams of dreams relating to death may in-
deed be explained on the assumption that such
dreams are more frequently remembered than other
"true" dreams. This assumption is no doubt in a
measure justified, but the consequences of admitting
its truth must not be overlooked ; for it of course
follows that a large number of coincident dreams
are forgotten, i.e., that the grounds furnished by
dreams for believing in telepathy are much stronger
than would at first sight appear.

Again, the frequency of coincident dreams of
death offers a favourable opportunity for estimating
the probabilities of their occurrence by chance. Thrj
problem is simplified in one direction by the con-
sideration that death is at all events a unique event
in the history of the agent If we can ascertain the
proportion which " true " bear to " not-true " dreams
of death, we can calculate by means of the tables of

COINCIDENT DREAMS. 189

mortality the probabilities for some other cause than
chance. The problem was actually attempted by Mr.
Gurney, who found that coincident dreams of death
in the collection published in Phantasms of the Living
were twenty-four times as numerous as chance would
allow. 1

Theoretically, dreams are of considerable interest
as throwing light upon the nature of waking impres-
sions ; for it should be observed that dreams are of
many kinds and of many degrees of vividness. Some
in the vagueness and ideality of the impressions re-
semble closely the waking experiences recorded in
the preceding chapter. Others in their extreme clear-
ness and semi-externalisation approach nearly to the
level of hallucinations. But whilst few persons above
the level of the savage believe that their dream per-
cepts correspond to actual external objects visibly
present, there are some who think that the hallucina-
tory image of a dying friend which they see with their
eyes open, and taking a place in the external order of
things, must, just because they see it with open eyes,
form a part of that external order. And if the per-
cipient himself is not under any such misconception,
the journalist who sneers at him for believing in

1 Phantasms, vol. i. pp. 303-310. The statement in the text must
not be regarded as having more weight than its author himself would
have assigned to it. Mr. Gurney certainly regarded his estimate as
little more than a guess a guess indeed made by one who had care-
fully studied and weighed the facts, so far as they could be known,
but because of our inevitable ignorance a guess still, rather than an
estimate on the approximate accuracy of which it would be safe to rely.
The calculation depends on several assumptions, one or two of which,
at least, are highly controvertible; for instance, the accuracy of the
5187 persons who asserted that they had not within a given period of
twelve years had an exceptionally vivid and distressing dream relating
to the death of a friend; and the accuracy of the twenty -four persons
who described themselves as having had within the same period a
similar dream actually occurring within twelve hours of the death of
the person represented. Probably the estimate given requires modifi-
cation by large allowances being made in both directions for defects of
memory. But even when thus discounted the coincidences will, it is
thought, by any one who carefully studies the subject be found to be
more numerous than can plausibly be attributed to chance.

190 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

"ghosts" is so, by his own confession. If once it
is recognised that between dreams and hallucinations
there is no essential difference, the chief obstacle to
the acceptance, by two different classes of minds, of
telepathy as the explanation of coincident hallucina-
tions will have disappeared. It will become clear, on
the one hand, that a belief in the significance of such
hallucinations does not necessarily carry with it a
belief in " ghosts"; and on the other, that the fact
of an apparition taking its place as a fully external-
ised percept does not imply any substantial basis for
the percept.

In dealing with dreams we will discuss first those
which resemble most closely the experimental results
and the cases considered in the last chapter, and
proceed from these to dreams which include a definite
representation of the agent Finally, cases of some-
what aberrant type and clairvoyant dreams will be
considered.

Simultaneous Dreams.

No. 52. From Miss INA BIDDER.

"RAVENSBURY PARK, MITCHAM,

June io///, 1890.

" The night before last a curious case of what I cannot but
call telepathy occurred between myself and my sister. (We
sleep in the same room.) For the last two years the whole
family have been very much interested in some skeletons and
flint instruments found in a gravel pit in one of the fields. They

.. . pleased .. __

them. He was a particularly interesting one, as we found a
flint arrow-head in his hip-bone, but we only got to his ribs.
On the night in question I dreamt that my father was excavating
in a more approved method, taking off the top mould and leav-
ing the bones in their original position in the brown earth, so
that you could see the form of the man to whom they had
belonged. In this way we lifted out the rest of the skeleton at
which my sister and I had been working, and behold ! when we
got to the skull it had a snout. We were delighted to be able to
prove this extraordinary fact respecting palaeolithic man, and the

COINCIDENT DREAMS. IQI

doctors crowded down from town to see the creature ; but my
sister was nowhere about, and in my anxiety to tell her of our
discovery I woke myself and nearly woke her. I stopped myself
just in time, thinking what a shame it was to spoil her night's
rest for a dream. Still wishing she were awake to hear, and
thinking again of the curious effect of the black, earth-filled
skull, with its projecting snout, and dreaming of my dream, I
turned over and dropped into another. Before I had got well
started in this, however, I was awakened by my sister trying to
light the candle. 'What is it?' I said, 'what's the matter?'
1 I've just had such a horrid dream/ she answered ; c it haunts
me still.' But I do not think I need repeat her dream, which I
believe she has written."

Miss M. Bidder writes as follows :

"June 9///, 1890.

" I was sleeping last night with my sister, with whom I have
shared a room all my life. I was sleeping soundly, and my
dreams, of which I now retain only the vaguest recollection,
took their most usual form of a confused repetition of all the
events of the past day jumbled together without meaning or
sequence, and without even much distinctness. ^ The whole
scene of the dream was hazy and confused, until I became
suddenly conscious of the figure of a skeleton in the foreground,
as it were, which disturbed me in my dream with a sense of
incongruity. I first made a half-conscious effort to banish the
figure which struck me with great horror from my dream,
but instead of disappearing it grew more and more prominent
and distinct, while all the rest of the scene and the people in it
seemed fading away. The figure of the skeleton, which I can
perfectly recall, presented one of the most vivid impressions I
ever remember to have received in a dream. It appeared to
stand upright before me, with what seemed to be a dark cloak
hanging about its limbs and forming a kind of -background as of
a black hood behind the skull, which showed against it with
extreme distinctness. It was on the skull, which was facing me
full, that my attention was chiefly concentrated, and as I stared
at it it slowly turned sideways, showing, to my horror, the profile
of a very long, sharp nose in place of the hollow socket. The feel-
ing of terror with which I perceived this (for the first time) was
so intense as to awaken me, nor could I even then entirely banish
it. So unpleasantly strong, indeed, was the impression of some
horrible presence which still remained, that it was with difficulty
that I resisted the desire to rouse my sister that she might help
me to shake it off. Some movement of mine did in fact pre-
sently awake her, and I at once began to tell her of my horrible
dream. Before, however, I had described it to her, she inter-
rupted me to tell me of a dream which she had had."

APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Here it is perhaps permissible to conjecture that
some common experience of their waking life might
have suggested to both sisters the idea of a primeval
skeleton with a snout. But it is remarkable, if such
is the true explanation, that the common idea was
elaborated into a dream by the two percipients almost
simultaneously. It must be admitted, however, that
such dreams, which have hitherto been reported only
as occurring between persons whose lives are spent
for the most part in the same surroundings, have
little value as evidence. It is only those who believe,
on evidence derived from other sources, in the reality
of telepathy, who will be inclined to regard such cases
as possibly due to its action, rather than to the spon-
taneous association of ideas in minds sharing the
same experiences and moving to some extent in
similar grooves.

Dreams coinciding with external events.

In the cases which follow the coincidence is of a
more definite kind, and the question is now no longer
of the correspondence of thought in closely associated
minds, but of the correspondence of thought with an
outward event with something done or suffered by
the person whose mind apparently affects that of the
dreamer.

Transference of Sensation in Dreams.

The following case, quoted from the Proc. of the
Am. S.P.R. (pp. 226, 227), offers a curious parallel to
some of the cases recorded at the beginning of Chapter
II. The narrator is a lady of Boston, whose good
faith is vouched for by Professor Royce. She wrote
from Hamburg on the 2jrd of June 1887 to her
sister, who was at that time in Boston, U.S.A. The
following is an extract from this letter :

COINCIDENT DREAMS. 193

No. 53.

" I very nearly wrote from the Hague to say that I should be
very thankful when we had a letter from you of the i8th of
June saying that you were well and happy. ... In the night of
the 1 7th I had what I suppose to be a nightmare, but it all
seemed to belong to you . . . and to be a horrid pain in your
head, as if it were being forcibly jammed into an iron casque, or
some such pleasant instrument of torture. The queer part of
it was my own dissociation from the pain, and conviction that
it was yours. I suppose it was some slight painful sensation
magnified into something quite severe by a half-asleep con-
dition. It will be a fine example of what the Society for
Psychical Research ought to be well supplied with an Ahnung
which came to nothing."

As a matter of fact the lady in Boston to whom
this letter was addressed is shown, on the evidence of
a dentist's bill, to have spent on the i/th June an
hour and three-quarters in the operating chair, while
a painful tooth was being stopped. The discomfort
consequent on the operation, as was learnt from the
patient herself, " continued as a dull pain for some
hours, in such wise that during the afternoon of the
1 7th June the patient could not forget the difficulty
at all. She slept, however, as usual at night. The
nightmare in Europe followed the operation in Boston
by a good many hours, but the pain of the tooth
returned daily for some three weeks." As the letter
was written from Europe six days after the night-
mare there was of course no possibility of any
communication having passed in the interval except
by telegram.

In the next case also the coincidence was of a
trivial nature, but appears to have been exact in point
Df time. The narrative is quoted here because the
impression, though not described beforehand, was of
a quite unusual kind, being in part, if not altogether,
a waking experience. It is doubtful, indeed, whether
It should be classed as a dream, and not rather as a
t( borderland " hallucination.

194 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

No. 54. From MRS. HARRISON.

"February 7//z, 1891.

" I reside with my husband at 15 Lupton Street, N.W. This
afternoon I was lying on the sofa, sound asleep, when I suddenly
awoke, thinking I heard my husband sigh as if in pain. I
arose immediately, expecting to find him in the room. He was
not there, and looking at my watch I found it was half-past
three. At six o'clock my husband came in. He called my
attention to a bruise on his forehead, which was caused by his
having knocked it against the stone steps in a Turkish bath. I
said to him, ' I know when it happened it was at half-past three,
for I heard you sigh as if in pain at that time.' He replied,
' Yes, that was the exact time, for I remember noticing the clock
directly after.'

"The gentleman who appends his name as witness was
present when this conversation took place.

" LOUISA E. HARRISON.
"Witness : Henry Hooton, 23 Bunhill Row, E.G."

This account was sent to the S.P.R. by Mr.
Harrison on the day of the occurrence described. In
an accompanying letter he writes : " Everything
happened exactly as stated."

In the cases which follow, with one exception, the
dream impression was of a well-marked visual nature.
In the first three narratives the dream had reference
to the death of the person represented. The mode
of representation, however, it will be seen, differed in
each case. In the first, the associated imagery was in
part of a fantastic nature, and the dream, though
sufficiently exceptional to leave a feeling of fatigue on
the following morning, and to induce the percipient
to write an account of it to his friends, resembled in
other respects the motley crowd which throng through
the gate of ivory. In the second case the surround-
ings of the central figure were such as the waking
imagination of the dreamer would naturally have con-
jured up in picturing the deathbed of his friend.

COINCIDENT DREAMS. IQS

No. 55, From MR. J. T.

This case is recorded at some length in the Proceedings of
the Am. S.P.R, (pp. 394-397) by Professor Royce. Professor
Royce explains that Mr. E., the agent, died after a short illness
in New York City, on Tuesday, February 23rd, 1886. Mr.
J. T., who, though an acquaintance of Mr. E., had heard nothing
of him for some time, and, as indeed appears from the letters
quoted, knew of no special cause for anxiety, was on the day of
the death, and for some time afterwards, in St. John, New
Brunswick. In consequence of severe snowstorms, no mails had
been received in St. John from the South for some days, and at
the time when the letter, an extract from which we give below,
was written, it was not possible for the writer to have known of
Mr. E.'s death. The original letter, written by Mr. J. T. to his
wife, and dated Wednesday, March 3rd, 1886, on paper headed
Hotel Dufferin, St. John, N.B., has been seen by Professor
Royce :

" I have not heard of you for an age. The train that should
have been here on Friday last has not arrived yet. I had
a very strange dream on Tuesday night. I have never been in
Ottawa in my life, and yet I was there, in Mr. E.'s house. Mrs.
E., Miss E., and the little girls were in great trouble because
Mr. E. was ill. I had to go and tell my brother [Mr. E.'s son-
in-law], and, strange to say, he was down a coal-mine.

"When I got down to him I told him that Mr. E. was
dead. But in trying to get out we could not do it. We climbed
and climbed, but always fell back. I felt tired out when I awoke
next morning, and I cannot account for the dream in any way."

Though the letter leaves it doubtful whether the
dream actually occurred on the night of the death,
or a week later, it appears from further correspond-
ence that the percipient believes the dream to have
taken place on the night of the 23rd February, the
night of the death, and this is the most natural inter-
pretation of the letter. 1 In any case, the dream pre-
ceded the news of the death.

In the next case, again, the dream is of a not
uncommon type, but the impression made, it will be
seen, was such as to wake the dreamer at the time,

* A^rnan writing on Wednesday would almost certainly say "last
night " if he meant to indicate the preceding night, whereas, having
just before written, of " Friday last," it was natural to describe the
Tuesday in the previous week as simply "Tuesday."

1 96 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

and to induce him in the morning to take the unusual
course of noting the dream in his diary.

No. 56. From MR. R. V. BOYLE.

"3 STANHOPE TERRACE, W.,
July 3o//z, 1884.

"In India, early on the morning of November 2nd, 1868
(which would be about 10 to n P.M. of November ist in
England), I had so clear and striking a dream or vision
(repeated a second time after a short waking interval)
that, on rising as usual between 6 and 7 o'clock, I felt im-
pelled at once to write an entry in my diary, which is now
before me.

"At the time referred to my wife and I were in Simla, in the
Himalayas, the summer seat of the Governor-General, and my
father-in-law and mother-in-law were living in Brighton. We
had not heard of or from either of them for weeks, nor had I
been recently speaking or thinking of them, for there was no
reason for anxiety regarding them. It is right, however, to say
that my wife's father had gone to Brighton some months before
on account of his health, though he was not more delicate than
his elder brother, who is (1884) still living.

" It seemed in my dream that I stood at the open door of a
bedroom in a house in Brighton, and that before me, by candle-
light, I saw my father-in-law lying pale upon his bed, while my
mother-in-law passed silently across the room in attendance on
him. The vision soon passed away, and I slept on for some
time. On waking, however, the nature of the impression left
upon me unmistakably was that my father-in-law was dead. I
at once noted down the dream, after which I broke the news of
what I felt to be a revelation to my wife, when we thought over
again and again all that could bear upon the matter, without
being able to assign any reason for my being so strongly and
thoroughly impressed. The telegraph from England to Simla
had been open for some time, but now there was an interruption,
which lasted for about a fortnight longer, and on the I7th (fifteen
days after my dream) I was neither unprepared nor surprised to
receive a telegram from England, saying that my father-in-law
had died in Brighton on November ist. Subsequent letters
showed that the death occurred on the night of the ist.

" Dreams, as a rule, leave little impression on me, and the one
above referred to is the only one I ever thought of making a
note of, or of looking expectantly for its fulfilment.

"R. VICARY BOYLE."

COINCIDENT DREAMS. 197

Mrs. Boyle writes as follows:

"6th August 1887.

" I well remember my husband telling me one morning, early
in November 1868, when at Simla, in India, that he had had a
striking dream (repeated) in which my father, then at Brighton,
seemed to be dying. We were both deeply impressed, and then
anxiously awaited news from home. A telegram first reached
us, in about a fortnight, which was afterwards confirmed by
letters telling of my father's death having occurred on the same
night when my husband had the dream.

"ELONORE A. BOYLE.

Mr. Gurney adds the following notes on the
case :

"The following entries were copied by me from Mr. Boyle's
diary:

"'Nov. 2. Dreamed of E. ; s F[ather] early this morning.

" i Written before dressing.

" ' Nov. 17. Got telegram from L[ouis] H[ack] this morning of
his father's death on 1st Nov. inst.'

"The following notice of the decease of Mr. Boyle's father-
in-law occurred in the Times for 4th November 1868:

"'On ist Nov., at Brighton, William Hack, late of Dieppe,
aged 72.'

"Mr. Boyle informed me that he is a 'particularly sound
sleeper, and very rarely dreams.' This dream was a very
unique and impressive experience, apart from the coincidence.

"There was a regular correspondence between Mrs. Boyle
and her mother, but for several mails the letters had contained
no mention of her father, on whose account absolutely no
anxiety was felt. " E. G."

It appears that the death actually occurred at about
2 P.M. in England, which was, allowing for the differ-
ence in longitude, about nine hours before the dream.

In the next case the dream is of a more unusual
character. The figure of the agent appears to have
stood alone, whilst the impression made was such
that the percipient is uncertain whether to class his
experience as a dream or a vision. Indeed, in the
absence of dream-background, and in the lifelike
appearance of the figure, the dream bears a striking
resemblance to a waking hallucination.

198 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

No. 57. From CAPTAIN R. E. W. CAMPBELL
(2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers).

"ARMY AND NAVY CLUB, PALL MALL, S.W.,
February 2ist, 1888.

" I have much pleasure in enclosing you an account of a
remarkable dream which occurred to me in the year 1886,
together with three other accounts of the same, written by
officers to whom the facts of the case are known. You are at
liberty, in the interests of science, to make such use of them as
you please.

" I was stationed at the Depot Barracks, Armagh, Ireland,
on the 3oth November 1886, and on the night of the same date,
or early in the morning of the ist December (I cannot tell
which, as I did not refer to my watch), I was in bed in my
room, when I was awakened by a most vivid and remarkable
dream or vision, in which I seemed to sec a certain Major
Hubbersty, late of my regiment, the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish
Fusiliers, looking ghastly pale, and falling forward as if dying.
He seemed to be saying something to me, but the words I
could not make out, although I tried hard to understand him.
The clothes he had on at the time appeared to me to have a
thin red thread running through the pattern. I was very deeply
impressed by my dream, and so much did I feel that there was
something significant in it that on the ist December, when at
luncheon in the mess, I related it to three brother-officers, tell-
ing them at the same time that I felt sure we should soon hear
something bad about Major Hubbersty. I had almost forgotten
all about it when, on taking up the Times newspaper of the
following Saturday on the Sunday morning following, the first
thing that caught my eyes was the announcement of Major
Hubbersty's death at Penzance, in Cornwall, on the 3oth
November, the very date on which I had the remarkable dream
concerning him.

" My feelings on seeing such a remarkable fulfilment of my
dream can be better imagined than described. Suffice it to say
that on the return from church of Messrs. Kaye and Scott I
asked them to try and recollect anything peculiar which had
happened at luncheon on the ist December, when, after a few
moments' deliberation, they at once recounted to me the whole
circumstances of my dream, as they had heard them from my
lips on the ist December 1886. On seeing Mr. Leeper a few
days afterwards at his father's house, Loughgall, Co. Armagh,
he at once remembered all I had told him about the dream
on the ist December, on my questioning him about it. I, of
course, can assign no possible cause for the remarkable facts
i elated, as apart from the difference of our standing in the

COINCIDENT DREAMS. 199

service, the late Major Hubbersty and I were in no wise
particularly friendly to one other, nor had we seen very much
of each other. I had not seen him for eighteen months pre-
viously. A very curious fact in connection with the dream is
that it occurred to me in the very same room in the barracks as
Major Hubbersty used to occupy when stationed at Armagh,
several years previously."

In answer to an inquiry, Captain Campbell writes,
on February 29th, 1888 :

" I do not dream much, as a rule, and cannot recall to my
mind ever before having had a dream of a similar nature to that
dreamt by me about the late Major Hubbersty."

Mr. A. B. R. Kaye, Lieutenant Third Royal Irish
Fusiliers, writes on August 2Oth, 1887, from 62 Fitz-
william Square, Dublin :

" I was stationed in the barracks, Armagh Depot, Royal Irish
Fusiliers, in November and December 1886. On the ist of
December at lunch there were present Lieutenant R. E. \V.
Campbell (2nd R.I.F.), Lieutenant R. W. Leeper (2nd R.I.F.),
Lieutenant T. E. Scott (4th R.I.F.), and myself. During our
conversation Major Hubbersty's name was mentioned, and
Campbell told us that he had a dream about him the night
before, how he had seen a vision of Major Hubbersty looking
very pale and seeming to be falling forward, and saying some-
thing to him which he could not hear ; also, he (Campbell) told
us he was sure we would hear something about Major Hubbersty
very soon.

" On the following Sunday, when Scott and I returned from
church and went into the ante-room, Campbell, who was there,
asked us both to try and remember anything peculiar that he
had told us on the ist. After a little time, we remembered
about the dream, and he (Campbell) then showed us the Times
newspaper of the day before, containing the notice of Major
Hubbersty's death, at Penzance, on November 3oth, 1886, the
same date as that on which he had the dream ; also, I re-
member, he (Campbell) told us that in his vision he seemed to
see the clothes which Major Hubbersty had on, and that there
was a red thread running through the pattern of the trousers."

The two other friends mentioned by Captain
Campbell, Messrs. Leeper and Scott, have written
letters to the same effect. 1

1 These letters are omittpd for want of space. They are given in full
in V&s, Journal of the S.P.R. for April 1888, pp. 255. 256.

200 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

From these letters there can be no doubt that the
coincidence made a marked impression on each of
those to whom the dream was related, and this fact,
perhaps even more than Captain Campbell's own
narrative, is a striking proof of the exceptional nature
of the experience.

There is no reason in this case for supposing that
the dream conveyed any other information than the
fact of the agent's death. There is no evidence that
the manner of death or the clothes worn by Major
Hubbersty resembled what was seen in the dream.
The clothes in which the figure appeared may have
been a reminiscence of clothes which the percipient
had actually seen worn on some occasion by the
agent But this explanation will hardly apply to the
following case, where the dream included a represent-
ation, accurate in more than one particular, of the
agent as he actually appeared at the time. It is true
that we have to rely upon the percipient's memory
after the interval of a fortnight for the details of the
dream, but since the dream was sufficiently impressive
to cause a note to be taken of it by a person not in
the habit of making such notes, it seems not unreason-
able to trust the memory to that extent.

No, 58. From MR. E. W. HAMILTON, CB.

"PARK LANE CHAMBERS, PARK LANE, W.,
April ^th, 1888.

"On Wednesday morning, March 2 1st, 1888, I woke up with
the impression of a very vivid dream. I had dreamt that my
brother, who had long been in Australia, and of whom I had hearcl
nothing for several months, had come home ; that after an absence
of twelve years and a half he was very little altered in appearance,
but that he had something wrong with one of his arms ; it looked
horribly red near the wrist, his hand being bent back.

" When I got up that morning the dream recurred constantly
to my thoughts, and I at last determined to take a note of it,
notwithstanding my natural prejudices against attaching any
importance to dreams, to which, indeed, I am not much subject
Accordingly, in the course of the day, I, made in my little Letts'
diary a mark thus : X, with my brother's name after it.

COINCIDENT DREAMS. 2OI

"On the following Monday morning, the 26th March, I
received a letter from my brother, which bore the date of the
2 ist March, and which had been posted at Naples (where the
Orient steamers touch), informing me that he was on his way
home, and that he hoped to reach London on or about the 3Oth
March, and adding that he was suffering from a very severe
attack of gout in the left arm, ~

" The next day I related to some one this curious incident, and
I commented on the extraordinary coincidence of facts with the
dream except in one detail, and that was, that the arm which
I had seen in my dream did not look as if it were merely affected
with gout: the appearance it had presented to me was more
like extremely bad eczema.

" My brother duly reached England on the 29th, having dis-
embarked at Plymouth owing to the painful condition of his arm.
It turned out that the doctor on board ship had mistaken the
case ; it was not gout, but a case of blood poisoning, resulting
in a very bad carbuncle or abscess over the wrist joint.

" Since my brother's return, I have endeavoured to ascertain
from him the exact hour at which he wrote to me on March 2ist.
He is not certain whether the letter to me was written before
noon or after noon of that day. He remembers writing four
short letters in the course of that day two before luncheon and
two after luncheon. Had the note addressed to me been written
in the forenoon, it might nearly have coincided in time with my
dream, if allowance be made for the difference of time between
Greenwich and Naples ; for, having no recollection of the dream
when I woke, according to custom, at an early hour on the
morning of the 2ist, I presume I must have dreamt it very
little before eight o'clock, the hour at which I was called,

" I may add that, notwithstanding an absence of twelve years
and a half, my brother has altered very little in appearance ;
and that I have not to my knowledge ever noted a dream before
in my life."

On April I2th, 1888, Mr. Gurney inspected the
diary with the entry (X, Clem) under Tuesday, March
20th, 1888, though, as Mr. Hamilton explained, "it
was early the next morning that I had the dream, for
I generally consider all that appertains to bed relates
to the day on which one gets into it."

Mr. Gurney also saw the letter signed Clement E.
Hamilton, and dated Naples, March 2ist, 1888, which
says " am suffering from very severe attack of gout in
left arm.' 1

502 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TkANSFERENCE.

The next case presents several points of interest.
In part, at least, it seems to have been a waking
experience, possibly the prolongation of a dream. In
this respect it resembles Mrs. Harrison's case, already
cited (No. 54), and if correctly described, the incident
possesses therefore a higher evidential value than a
mere dream, however vivid. I have here classed it
as a dream, however, because the percipient himself so
describes it in his letter written a few days after the
experience. The utterance of words by the percipient
finds a parallel in the case of Archdeacon Bruce
(Chapter VII., No. 51). But in the present case
there is the additional feature that the percipient is
conscious not only of the sound of his own voice, but
of another voice in reply. The incident, it will be
seen, though remote, is attested by letters written
immediately after the event, and by the percipient's
recollection of action taken in consequence of the
dream-warning.

No. 59. From MR. EDWARD A. GOODALL, of the
Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours.

"May, 1888.

"At Midsummer, 1869, I left London for Naples, The he.it
being excessive, people were leaving for Ischia, and I thought
it best to go there myself.

" Crossing by steamer, I slept one night at Casamicciola, on
the coast, and walked next morning into the town of Ischia
[Mr. Goodall then describes an accident to his hand, which
prevented him from sketching.]

" It must have been on my third or fourth night, and about
the middle of it, when I awoke, as it seemed, at the sound of my
own voice, saying : 1 1 know I have lost my dearest little May.'
Another voice, which I in no way recognised, answered: ' No^
not May, but yaux youngest boy}

"The distinctness and solemnity of the voice made such
a distressing impression upon me that I slept no more. I got
up at daybreak, and went out, noticing for the first time
telegraph-poles and wires.

"Without delay I communicated with the postmaster at
Naples, and by next boat received two letters from home. I
opened them according to dates outside. The first told me that

COINCIDENT t)REAMS. 203

my youngest boy was taken suddenly ill ; the second, that he
was dead.

" Neither on his account nor on that of any of my family had
I any cause for uneasiness. All were quite well on my taking
leave of them so lately. My impression ever since has been
that the time of the death coincided as nearly as we could judge
with the time of my accident.

" In writing to Mrs. Goodall, I called the incident of the voice
a dream, as less likely perhaps to disturb her than the details
which I gave on reaching home, and which I have now repeated.

"My letters happen to have been preserved.

" I have never had any hallucination of any kind, nor am
I in the habit of talking in my sleep. I do remember once
waking with some words of mere nonsense upon my lips, but
the experience of the voice speaking to me was absolutely
unique.

"EDWARD A. GOODALL."

Extracts from letters to Mrs. E. A. Goodall from
Ischia:

"WEDNESDAY, August nM, 1869.

" The postman brought me two letters containing sad news
indeed. Poor little Percy ! I dreamt some nights since the
poor little fellow was taken from us. . . ."

"August itfh.

" I did not tell you, dear, the particulars of my dream about
poor little Percy.

" I had been for several days very fidgety and wretched at
getting no letters from home, and had gone to bed in worse
spirits than usual, and in my dream I fancied I said : * I have
lost my dearest little May.' A strange voice seemed to say :
'No, not May, but your youngest boy/ not mentioning his
name."

Mr. Myers adds :

" Mr. Goodali has given me verbally a concordant account of
the affair, and several members of his family, who were present
at our interview, recollected the strong impression made on him
and them at the time." *

In the case which follows the agency is difficult
to elucidate. The persons who were spectators of
the scene represented in the dream can hardly be
supposed to have been acquainted with the dreamer,

1 Ptoc. S.r.R n vol. v. pp. 453-455'*

204 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

and assuredly would not willingly have revealed the
secret The dream appears to have been of a clair-
voyant character. The account is taken from the
Proceedings of the Am. S.P.R., pp. 454 et seq.

No. 60. From MRS. E. J.

"CAMBRIDGE (U.S.A.), Nov. 30, 1886.

"The dream I will endeavour to relate as clearly as possible.

" It occurred during the month of August, last summer, while
we were boarding with Mrs. H., in Lunenburg, where I first met
the Misses W. I am a perfectly healthy woman, and have
always been sceptical as to hallucinations in any one, always
before having felt the cause of the experience might be
traced.

" In my dream I arrived unexpectedly at the house of the
Misses W., in Cambridge, where I found everything in confusion,
drawers emptied and their contents scattered about the floor,
bundles unrolled, and dresses taken down from the closets.
Then, as I stepped into one room, I saw some boys in bed,
three or four, I cannot distinctly remember. I saw their faces
distinctly, as they sat up in bed at my approach, but the recollec-
tion of their faces has faded from me now. I could not reach
the boys, for they disappeared suddenly, and I could not find
them ; but I thought, These cannot be the people whom the
Misses W. trusted to care for their house in their absence ; and I
was troubled to know whether it was best to tell them when I
should return to Lunenburg. This is all there was in the
dream.

" Thinking only to amuse them, I related my dream at the
breakfast-table the following morning, and I regretted doing so
immediately, for anxiety showed itself in their faces, and the
elder Miss W. remarked that she hoped my dream was not a
forerunner of bad tidings from home. I laughed at the idea,
but that morning the mail brought a letter telling them that
their house had been entered, and when they went down they
found almost the same confusion of which I had been a witness
the night before with everything strewn about the floor. It
was a singular coincidence, surely."

Miss W. writes :

" 7 STREET, Dec. 4.

" I am not quite sure whether the incident to which you
allude in your note is worthy your attention or not, but I will
give you the facts, that you may judge for yourself of its value.

COINCIDENT DREAMS. 2OJ

" The burglary, we suppose, took place on the night of the
1 7th or 1 8th of August, I being at the time, for the summer, in
the town of Lunenburg, Mass.

"Coming down to breakfast on the morning of the I7th, a
lady said to me that she had had a strange dream. She thought
she went to our house, finding it in the greatest confusion,
everything turned upside-down. As she entered one of the
sleeping-rooms she saw two boys lying in the bed ; but she
could not see their faces, for as soon as they saw her they
jumped up and ran off. I said, ' I hope that does not mean that
we have been visited by burglars.'

" I thought no more about it, till the eleven o'clock mail
brought a note from the woman in charge of the house saying
that it had been entered, that everything was in great con-
fusion, many things carried off, and she wished we would come
home at once. The policeman who went over the house with
her said he had never seen a house more thoroughly ransacked.

" We found that in the upper attic room the bed had evidently
been used, and there was, perhaps, more confusion in this room
than in any other.

"The lady who had the dream was Mrs. E. J., of Cambridge-
port. I was told that she had been suffering for about a year
from nervous prostration, and she was evidently in a condition
of great nervous excitement.

" I forbore to speak to her of the occurrence, as one of the
ladies in the house told me that it had made an unpleasant im-
pression on her mind.

" The whole thing seems rather curious to me, but I do not
know that you will find it of any value in your investigations."

A dream presenting similar features is recorded in
the Journal of 'the S.P.R. for June 1890. Mr. William
Bass, farm bailiff to Mrs. Palmer, of Tumours Hall,
Chigwell, on Good Friday, 1884, "awoke in violent
agitation and profuse perspiration " from a dream
that something was wrong at the stables. He was at
first dissuaded by his wife from paying any attention
to the dream, but subsequently, at about 2 A.M., dressed
and proceeded to the stables (a third of a mile off) to
find that a mare had been stolen. The case has been
investigated by Mr. T. Barkworth, of West Hatch,
Chigwell, and by Mr. J. B. Surgey, of 22 Holland
Street, Kensington. In a dream recorded in Phan*
tasms of the Living (vol. i f p. 369), Miss Busk, of 16

206 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Montagu Street, W,, dreamt that in a spot in Kent
well known to her she stumbled over "the heads,
left protruding, of some ducks buried in the sand,
under some firs." The dream was mentioned at
breakfast to Miss Busk's sister, Mrs. Pitt Byrne, and
an hour later the ladies learnt from their bailiff that
some stolen ducks had accidentally been found buried
on the spot and in the manner described.

207

CHAPTER IX.

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL.

BEFORE proceeding, in the chapters which follow, to
cite instances of hallucinations which purport to have
been telepathically originated, it seems needful to
glance briefly at sensory hallucination in general. To
most persons, no doubt, the word connotes disease.
Their ideas of hallucination are probably derived
from vague reports of asylum experience and delirium
tremens; or at least from the cases of Goethe's butt,
Nicolai, the Berlin bookseller, and the Mrs. A. whose
experiences are described in Brewster's Letters on
Natural Magic, both of whom are known to have
been under medical treatment for illness of which
the hallucinations were regarded as a symptom.
Indeed, until recent years the tendency of even well-
instructed opinion has been to regard a sensory
hallucination as necessarily implying some physical
or mental disorder. This misconception for it is a
misconception has had some curious consequences.
Since it does occasionally happen that a person
admittedly sane and healthy reports to have seen the
likeness of a human figure in what was apparently
empty space, such reports have been by some perforce
scouted as unworthy of credence, and by others
regarded as necessarily indicating some occult cause
as testifying, in short, to the agency of " ghosts."
There was indeed the analogy of dreams to guide us.
Few educated persons would regard dreams, on the

208 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE,

one hand, as a symptom of ill-health, or on the other
as counterparts or revelations of any super-terrestrial
world ; or, indeed, as anything else than purely sub-
jective mental images. Yet dreams belong to the
same order of mental phenomena as hallucinations,
and are commonly so classed such differences as
exist being mainly due to the conditions under which
the two sets of phenomena respectively occur. In
fact, a hallucination is simply a hypertrophied thought
the last member of a series, whose intermediate
terms are to be found in the mind's-eye pictures of
ordinary life, in the vivid images which some artists
can summon at will, and in the Faces in the Dark
which many persons see before passing into sleep,
with its more familiar and abundant imagery.

Of recent years, however, our knowledge of hallu-
cinations has been largely augmented from two dis-
tinct sources. On the one hand, a systematic attempt
has been made to study the spontaneous non-recurrent
hallucinations occurring amongst normal persons ; on
the other hand, wider knowledge of hypnotism and the
discovery of various processes for inducing hallucina-
tions has afforded facilities for the experimental in-
vestigation of their nature, mechanism, and genesis,
both in the trance and in waking life. The hallucina-
tions, indeed, of the ordinary hypnotic subject, with
which the public has been familiarised by platform
demonstrations, are possibly not sensory at all. When
a hypnotised lad eats tallow-candle for sponge-cake,
drinks ink for champagne, or professes to see a
lighted candle at the end of the operator's finger, we
may conclude, if the performance is a genuine one,
that a false belief has been engendered in his mind ;
but we have, in most cases, no evidence that this
belief includes any sensory element. In many labor-
atory experiments, however, there can be little ques-
tion that a complete sensory hallucination is induced,
and that what the subject professe r s to see and hear is
as real to him as the furniture or the person of the

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL. 2Op

operator. One or two such cases have been quoted
in a previous chapter (Chap. III., p. 68). The nature
and reaction of these hypnotic hallucinations have
been investigated with much ingenuity by various
Continental observers. 1 MM. Binet and Fre\ to
quote the best-known scries of experiments, have
found, speaking generally, that the hallucinatory per-
cept behaves under various conditions precisely as if
it were a real percept. Thus, if the subject is told to
see a picture on a blank card, he will not only see the
picture at the time, but he will be able subsequently
to pick out the card, recognising it by means of the
hallucinatory picture impressed on it, from a number
of similar cards. If the card is inverted, he will see
the picture upside-down ; if a magnifying glass is
interposed, he will see the picture enlarged ; viewed
through a prism, it will appear doubled ; it will be
reflected in a mirror ; and if the hallucinatory image
consists of written or printed words, he will see the
writing in the mirror inverted. Hallucinatory colours
will develop after-images of the complementary colour,
precisely as if coloured surfaces were actually present
to the eyes of the hallucind ; and a mixture of these
hallucinatory colours will produce the appropriate
third colour. If other proof were needed of the
sensory nature of the induced affection, MM. Binet
and Fre* find it in the observation that with cataleptic
subjects who have lost the sensitiveness of the cornea
and conjunctiva, this sensitiveness is restored when a
visual hallucination is enjoined upon them. M. Pierre
Janet, in L! Autoyiatisme Psychologique, has recorded
a similar restoration of sensitiveness in a subject's
arm by the imposition of a tactile hallucination.

It is right to point out that these experiments,
by the authors' admission, succeed only occasionally,
and that many of them have not yet been confirmed
by other observers. In fact, according to the evidence

1 See Animal Magmtisn^ by Binet and Fe*re*, in the International
Science Series, and the references there given.

14

210 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

collected by the S.P.R., the results of applying such
optical tests differ with each individual. Thus Mr.
Myers succeeded by post-hypnotic suggestion in in-
ducing two young men to see hallucinatory images
in the crystal enlarged by the application of a magni-
fying glass (S.P.R., viii. 462, 463), and Miss X. (id., pp.
485, 486) reports that she sees hallucinatory pictures
distorted in a spoon, reversed in a mirror, enlarged
by a magnifying glass, and doubly refracted by Ice-
land spar. She believes herself also to have experi-
enced complementary colours as the result of pro-
longed looking at a hallucinatory picture. But Mrs.
Verrall (id., p, 474) finds the crystal pictures vanish
when the magnifying glass is applied ; and Miss A.
(id., p. 500) finds that the superimposition of a magni-
fying glass does not affect the picture. In all these
cases, it should be noted, the percipients were in their
normal condition, and were more or less familiar
with the nature of the optical effects following under
similar circumstances with real percepts.

MM. Binet and Fr suppose that the appropriate
reaction of the hallucinatory picture to the various
tests described is due to the hallucination being built
up round a fragment of actual percept, such as a mark
on a card, which would conform to ordinary optical
laws. This imaginary nucleus they name the point
de repere. It is not improbable that in some cases
this may be the true explanation. But experience
leads us to infer that suggestion would be competent
to produce all the observed effects in cases where the
subject, either from previous knowledge of the instru-
ment or process, from the behaviour of the investi-
gators, or from his own observations at the time, was
aware of the nature of the effect to be expected. And
it is not clear that MM. Binet and Fr, and other in-
vestigators of this school, have been sufficiently on their
guard against the abnormal receptivity of the hypno-
tised subjects with whom they have for the most part
experimented. Miss X,, it may be remarked, pro-

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL. 21 1

fesses herself uncertain whether or not to ascribe
the results which she has recorded to self-suggestion.
But to choose between these alternative explanations
is not important for our present purpose. To what-
ever cause we may attribute the results observed,
there can be no doubt either of the sense of reality
conveyed by the false percept, or of its appropriate
behaviour under favourable conditions.

An instance may be quoted in detail which
illustrates at once the apparent attachment of the
hallucination to an external object, and its successful
competition with the impressions of waking life. A
lady of my acquaintance, Sister L., was put into the
hypnotic state by Mr. G. A. Smith in the spring of
1892. Whilst she was entranced, Mr. Smith, at my
request, handed to her several blank cards, and told
her that one of them (which had been privately
marked on the back) bore a portrait of himself, and
that she was to look at it ten minutes after waking.
A few minutes later, when engaged in conversation
and apparently completely awake, Sister L. picked
out the card in question from the little heap of similar
cards and showed it to me, remarking that it was an
excellent likeness. Some half-hour later, when Sister
L. was about to take her departure, I handed her the
card and said that Mr. Smith would be glad if she
would accept the photograph. She looked at the
card, expressed her thanks for the gift, and placed it
in her pocket When I met her a few days later I
learnt that on her arrival at home she had searched
in her pocket for the photograph, and had been much
surprised to find there only a blank card. In this
instance there can be little doubt that a complete
sensory hallucination was induced, and that it per-
sisted, or was capable of being revived, for some 30
minutes or more after the original impression had
been established.

This last example, Jt will be seen, belongs to the
important class of post-hypnotic hallucinations i.e.,

212 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

hallucinations enjoined on the subject in the hypnotic
state, but realised only after waking, Special interest
attaches to hallucinations of this kind, because the
subject is in a condition which, if not fully normal,
at least approaches in some cases very nearly to the
normal, and is thus able to observe and describe his
own sensations with care. 1

A more striking- form of the same experiment, the
post-hypnotic production of a completely developed
hallucination of the human figure, has been practised
by Bernheim, 2 Beaunis, 3 Liegeois, 4 and others. Thus
M. Liegeois, on the I2th October 1885, told a hypno-
tised subject that on the I2th October of the year
following he would go to Dr. Liebeault's house, where
he would also see M. Liegeois, and would thank them
both for the good done to his eyes. He would then
see a performing dog and monkey enter the consult-
ing room, where they would perform many amusing
tricks; ultimately he would see a gipsy enter with a

1 In many cases the post-hypnotic performance of an enjoined action,
or the experience of a post-hypnotic hallucination, is associated with the
partial recurrence of the hypnotic trance, or of some condition closely
allied to it. Mr. Edmund Gurney has carefully investigated the ques-
tion (Proc. S.P.R., iv. pp. 268-323. See also Delboeuf's article there
quoted, "De la pretendue Veille Somnambulique," Rev. PJri/. t Feb.
1887), and has shown that, with some subjects, during the performance
of the enjoined action a further command can be given, or a further
hallucination imposed, and that the whole incident will have passed
from memory a few seconds later. In the case of some persons hypno-
tised by Dr. Bramwell, and bidden to see after waking an imaginary
scene in a crystal, I have myself observed that they retained no recol-
lection a few minutes later of the scene which they had been describ-
ing; and in at least one case the subject at the time of the hallucin-
ation was apparently insensible to pain. On the other hand, as Mr.
Gurney has pointed out (he. cit. t p. 270), "there are some cases in
which no reason whatever appears for regarding the state in which
the action is performed as other than normal," and the same remark
apparently holds good of post-hypnotic hallucinations. And there are
many persons who can see hallucinatory pictures in a crystal, a glass
of water, etc., when in full health and in a perfectly normal condition.
See Mr, Myers* article already referred to (S.P.R., vol. viii.).

2 De la Suggestion, p. 29.

* La SoMitambulisme provoqut, p. 233.

4 Rev. de PHypnotisme, November 1886, p. 148.

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL. 213

bear, to reclaim the dog and monkey, and would
borrow two sous from M. Liegeois to give to the
gipsy. On the I2th October 1886 the subject
entered Dr. Liefbeault's consulting room and thanked
him and M. Liegeois as arranged He then saw a
dog and monkey enter the room, and ultimately a
gipsy. The bear he did not see, and the two sous,
which were duly borrowed, he handed to the imagin-
ary dog. With these exceptions the hallucinations
enjoined a year before were exactly realised. Some
experiments of a similar nature are recorded by Mr.
Gurney (Proc. S.P.R., vol. v. pp. 11-13). The subject
was a servant named Zillah, in the service of Mrs.
Ellis, of 40 Keppel Street, Russell Square. In the
first two experiments Zillah was told in the trance
that at a certain hour on the following day she would
see Mr. G. A. Smith. In each case the experiment
succeeded.

The third and last experiment with this "subject" was made
on Wednesday evening, July I3th, 1887. On this occasion S.
told her, when hypnotised, that the next afternoon at three
o'clock she would see me come into the room to her. She was
further told that I would keep my hat on, and would say, " Good
afternoon ;" that I would further remark, "It is very warm ;"
and would then turn round and walk out. These hallucinations
were suggested in another room, where Zillah was taken for the
purpose, and neither Mrs. Ellis nor any other person, except S.
and myself, knew their nature. Zillah, as usual, knew nothing
about them on waking. On the second day after, the following
letter was received from Mrs. Ellis:

"40 KEPPEL STRKET, RUSSELL SQUARE, W.C.,

July itfh.

" DEAR MR. SMITH, Mr. Gurney did not ask me to write
in case there was anything to communicate with respect to
Zillah, but as I suppose you gave her a post-hypnotic hallucina-
tion, probably you will wish to hear of it. I will give you the
story in her own words, as I jotted them down immediately
afterwards saying nothing to her, of course, of my doing so.
She said : * I was ip the kitchen washing up, and had just
looked at the clock, andnvas startled to see how late it was
five minutes to three when I heard footsteps coming down the

214 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

stairs rather a quick, light step and I thought it was Mr.
Sleep ' (the dentist whose rooms are in the house), * but as I
turned round, with a dish mop in one hand and a plate in the
other, I saw some one with a hat on, who had to stoop as he
came down the last step, and there was Mr. Gurney 1 He was
dressed just as I saw him last night, black coat and grey
trousers, his hat on, and a roll of paper, like manuscript, in his
hand, and he said, ' Oh, good afternoon.' And then he glanced
all round the kitchen, and he glared at me with an awful look,
as if he was going to murder me, and said, * Warm afternoon,
isn't it?' and then, 'Good afternoon' or 'Good day,' I'm not
sure which, and turned and went up the stairs again, and after
standing thunderstruck a minute, I ran to the foot of the stairs,
and saw like a boot just disappearing on the top step.' She
said, ' I think I must be going crazy. Why should I always see
something at three o'clock each day after the stance ? But I
am not nearly so frightened as I was at seeing Mr. Smith.'
She seemed particularly impressed by the 'awful look' Mr.
Gurney gave her. I presume this was the hallucination you
gave her.

"AMELIA A. ELLIS.*

It is important to note that in cases of this kind
there is no discoverable point de repbre, at least in the
sense in which the phrase is understood by its authors;
and the nature of the effect produced a moving
figure, apparently occupying a position in solid space
makes it very difficult to suppose that the hallu-
cination is attached to any external object, which
must necessarily be fixed. But the whole discussion
about the necessity of external excitation or of points
de rep&re seems beside the mark in such cases as
these. For there can be no question that what in the
first instance excites the hallucination is not a present
sensation, but a memory. Whether for the full de-
velopment of a sensory hallucination some external
stimulus to the sense-organ is necessary is here a
question of quite minor importance. The really
interesting fact in its bearing on the question of
telepathic hallucination is that some hallucinations
are shown to be centrally, not peripherally, initiated.
It should be further remarked that Zillah's astonish-
ment at seeing the figure is typical, since in the case

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL. 21 5

of post-hypnotic hallucinations in general neither the
injunction to see the figure, nor indeed any other
incident of his trance life, is remembered by the per-
cipient in the normal state ; and he is therefore
entirely ignorant of the chain of events which led up
to the hallucination, and can only by inquiry and
reflection ascertain that the apparition which he has
seen is of his own manufacture.

From these experimental cases we may pass to
the consideration of spontaneous hallucinations, and
amongst them to that class with which we are more
directly concerned, the occasional hallucinations of
sane and healthy persons. Owing, amongst other
causes, to their comparative infrequency, and to the
difficulty of obtaining accurate contemporary records
(since their occurrence cannot, as in the hallucinations
of disease, be foreseen), phenomena of this class have
hitherto attracted little attention amongst psycholo-
gists. 1 Mr. Edmund Gurney, however, in 1884 and
onwards conducted an inquiry, by means of a printed
schedule of questions, amongst a circle of some 6000
persons ; and during the last four years, at the request
of the Congress of Experimental Psychology which
met at Paris in 1889, Professor Henry Sidgwick, with
the aid of a Committee of members of the S.P.R., has
carried on a similar investigation on a larger scale.
17,000 adult persons, for the most part resident in the
United Kingdom, have been questioned as to their
experience of sensory hallucinations. 2 In the result it

1 Professor Sully, to quote a recent instance, in his work on
Illusions in the International Scientific Series (ed. 1887), devotes less
than a page and a half to the discussion of the sensory hallucinations of
normal life, and sums up the subject by saying that " when not brought
on by exhaustion or artificial means, the hallucinations of the sane have
their origin in a preternatural power of imagination " (p. 117).

a The question, which was worded as follows: Have you ever,
when believing yourself to be completely awake, had a vivid impression
of seeing, or being touched by a living being or inanimate object, or of
hearing a voice, which impression, so far as you tould discover, was not
due to any external physical cause? was printed at the top of a
schedule containing twenty-five spaces for the names and other par

2 16 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

appeared that 1684 out of 17,000, or 9.9 per cent. to
wit, 655 out of 8372 men, and 1029 out of 8628 women
had experienced a sensory hallucination at some
time in their lives. In about one-third of the cases the
percipient had more than one experience of the kind.
The phenomenon, therefore, though not so common
as dreaming, is less rare than is generally supposed,
seeing that about one in every ten educated persons
has such an experience in the course of his life. The
inquiries of the Committee have revealed no general
cause for the greater number of these isolated hallu-
cinations. In a small proportion of the cases there
was a slight degree of ill-health, and in a rather
greater number there was a certain amount of anxiety
or other emotional excitement, to which the hallu-
cinatory experience might with some plausibility be
attributed. 1 But in the great majority of the cases
there was no obvious antecedent to be discovered
either in the condition of the percipient or in the
surrounding circumstances, and we are led to the
conclusion that an isolated hallucination of this kind
is as little incompatible with ordinary health as a
blush or a hiccough. At the same time we are
entitled to infer, from the relatively large proportion
of cases occurring when the percipient is in bed, or
alone, that quiescence and freedom from external
stimuli are favourable conditions for the genesis of

ticulars of those answering. Collectors were instructed not to select
those of whom the question was asked ; and to record alike negative
and affirmative answers. In the case of an affirmative answer being
received, further particulars were sought. For a full discussion of the
various sources of error incident to an inquiry of this nature, and the
precautions taken to avoid them, and for details of the results
obtained, the reader is referred to the Report of the Committee, pre-
sented in a condensed form to the Congress of Experimental Psychology
which met in London in 1892, and to be published in full in the
Proc. S.P.Jt., vol. x., part 26 (forthcoming).

1 There was ill-health alone in about 5 per cent., anxiety alone in
about ii per cent., and both ill-health ancji anxiety in about 1.7 per
cent, of first-hand cases*

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL. 2I/

hallucinations. 1 They may, in short, be regarded as
unusually vivid dreams, and have for the most part
just so much interest and significance. The nature
and variety of these casual hallucinations may be
gathered from the table on the following page.

If we turn to the mechanism of hallucinations, we
shall find that like dreams some are apparently
originated by the condition of the bodily organs ;
others again appear to be mere automatic reverbera-
tions of recent sensation ; whilst yet others cannot
be referred to any immediate external stimulus, and
suggest the "spontaneous" activity of the higher
cerebral centres. With the rudimentary hallucina-
tions singing in the ears, sparks and flashes of
light, etc. which are caused by transient condi-
tions of the external organs of sense, we are prob-
ably all familiar. But experience shows that a small
nucleus of actual sensation may enter into more fully
developed hallucinations. Thus, to take the simplest
case, it is known that " sparks " may develop into
" Faces in the Dark," which are themselves on the
border-line between mind's-eye pictures and halluci-
nations. (See St. James's Gazette, " Faces in the Dark,"
Feb. 10, 1882, and Proc. S.P.R., vol. iii. p. 171.) And
in another recorded case (Proc. S.P.R., vol. i. pp. 102,
103) an artist was accustomed to see constantly at
his studio the figure of a man, under circumstances
which strongly suggest that a point de repere was
furnished by those floating motes in the eyeballs
which are liable momentarily to cloud the vision
when the position is abruptly changed after a period
of immobility. And we find cases where the con-
structive impulse has so amplified and misinter-

1 Hallucinations occurring in the ambiguous state between waking
and sleeping are called by some writers hypnagogie. For the purposes
of our investigation, coincident hallucinations occurring at times when
it is doubtful whether the percipient is fully awake, c.g.> when he is in
bed, are termed " borderland.'* Their evidential value is, of course,
somewhat less than that of, hallucinations occurring when the percipient
is unquestionably &wake. (See cases 57, 59, 65, 66, etc.>

218 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

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ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL.

preted the data of normal sensation that we hardly
know whether to class the result as hallucination
or illusion. Thus, in a case given in Phantasms (vol.
ii. p. 28), a young girl sees the face of a friend grow-
ing out of a yellow pansy ; and an account of a
similar incident has recently been furnished to me
by Mr. H. Smith, of the Central Telegraph Office.
The reference in the first line of the following narra-
tive is to a rumour of the house being haunted, the
remembrance of which possibly gave a definite form
to the apparition :

" POST OFFICE, yd Dec. 1892.

" I had a turn last night, and for the moment thought I had
caught the spook of my predecessor, but, alas ! it all ended
in smoke instead of spook. It gave me a turn, though, and
made cold water run rippling down my back. It happened
thus: I had paid a good-night visit to the room of a dear
little friend, a Callithrix monkey, whose lodgings are in a
side building which has a door opening into the entrance hall.
There was no light in the room of my friend, but a side light
shone in through the door from the hall. (I was smoking.)
On going out I looked back before shutting the door, and was
startled to see just behind me, in the dark shade, the face of a
human being apparently an old man with grey hair. The face
was perfectly distinct in every detail for an appreciable interval,
and the eyes seemed to look sadly at me, and I looked sadly at
him. The face moved, and the appearance, though a bit out of
shape, still remained. I, however, saw what it was, and gave a
gasp of relief which blew the old man's countenance into the
shapelessness of the last remains of an extra strong puff of
tobacco smoke I had left behind me."

Hallucinations of this kind, whose origin we can
trace with more or less probability to some external
sensation, may be in some respects compared with
the visions seen on blank cards by the subjects of
MM. Binet and Fere\ But there are other hallucina-
tions which cannot with any plausibility be referred
to peripheral excitation. Such, as already said, are
many hypnotic hallucinations, and the majority of
the fully-developed hallucinations of normal life
would appear tq> fall under the same category.
Hallucinations of this class, like what may be

22O APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

called hallucinatory 1 dreams, are no doubt due to
the spontaneous activity of the higher cerebral
centres ; they are simply ideas which take on sen-
sory colouring. And just as the hallucinations of
hypnotism, for the most part, are due to external
suggestion, so it would seem that amongst the cen-
trally initiated hallucinations of normal life there are
some which owe their origin not to the spontaneous
activity of the percipient's brain, but to an idea intruded
from without a suggestion not verbal but telepathic.
The proof of this proposition the proof, that is,
of the operation in certain cases of some distant
cause external to the percipient's organism lies in
a numerical comparison of those hallucinations which
coincide with an external event e.g., the death of
the person seen and those which do not For when
the relative frequency of hallucinations has been
ascertained the probability of chance coincidence in
such cases can be exactly calculated. And should
it appear that coincidental hallucinations are more
frequent than chance would allow, it is certain that
some other cause has to be sought for. And here we
are met at the outset by a serious difficulty. It
would appear from the results of the census just
described that hallucinations even of a vivid and
interesting character tend very quickly to be for-
gotten. Thus, to take only the cases of realistic
apparitions resembling a living person, we find 157
cases recorded as occurring during the last ten years,
and only 166 as occurring more than ten years ago ;
although, as the average age of our informants is
about 40, we might have anticipated that the latter
number would be about three times as great as the
former. 2 But the discrepancy becomes still more

1 As opposed to "dream-illusions," which depend on various organic
sensations, or on the stimulation of the external organs of sense. The
distinction is made by Professor Sully, ice. at., p* 139.

3 These figures do not include second-hand cases. There are be-
sides 29 undated cases, most of which probably belong to the
remote period, See column I of table on p, 218 (visual cases).

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL.

221

striking if the figures are examined in detail.
The subjoined table gives the number of appari-
tions resembling the human form recorded for each
of the last ten years :

No. of Years Ago-

land
under

b'tw'n
1 and 2

2-3

3-4

4-5

5-6

73
6
13

6-7

7-8

8-9

9-10

Total.

Realistic ^ Living . . .
Human VDead . . .
Apparitions J Unrecognised

35
12
17

19
10

1C

15
7
12

13
1

17

15
7
17

17
6
11

12
2
10

24

8
8
5

10
3

8

157
62
126

64

45

34

31

39

32

34

21

21

345

It will be seen that the number of hallucinations
recorded as occurring between nine and ten years ago
is less than one-third of the number recorded for the
last twelve months. Nay, if the analysis is carried
still further, it is found that within the last year the
number of hallucinations remembered decreases month
by month as we recede further from the present. The
inference is irresistible, that the great majority even
of interesting hallucinations do not sufficiently impress
the memory to be preserved for a few years. After a
careful analysis of the figures the Committee are of
opinion that the number of visual hallucinations
actually experienced by their informants since the
age of tea would be approximately secured by multi-
plying the recorded number by four. 1

But if hallucinations in general are not remembered
enough, coincidental hallucinations, at least those
which coincide with the death of the person seen, 2
would appear to be remembered too well, as will
appear from the following figures. There are
13 such cases recorded during the last ten years.
Now if we assume that this figure accurately re-

1 The calculation is based upon an analysis of the whole number of
visual cases reported during the most recent month, which would
indicate an annual rate of about 140. The figures for the most recent
quarter indicate an annual rate of about 120.

2 A hallucination which coincides with a death is defined, for the
purposes of this inquiry, as a hallucination which occurs within twelve
hours of the death. '

222 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

presents the number of such coincidences that have
occurred in the experience of our informants during
the last ten years, then, since the average age
of our informants in this particular case is 46, we
should expect to find for the whole period since the
age of ten years 47 such coincidences reported; that is
on the assumption that no death-coincidence is ever
forgotten, and that the liability to such hallucination
is practically uniform during the entire period. We
do actually find 65 cases; from which it should,
the Committee think, be inferred, not only that few or
no death-coincidences are forgotten, a result which
is probably not surprising, but also that a certain
number of cases which are not death-coincidences
have by the lapse of time grown to appear so. 1 Nor
is it difficult to conjecture the particular form of error.
It is probable that in most of the 18 more or less
spurious death-coincidences, there was an actual
phantasm and an actual death, but that the two events
did not stand in close relation to each other. We
have already (see Chap. VI.) seen reason to suspect
a constant tendency to magnify the closeness of a
coincidence of this kind. Seen from a distance the
two events like a binary star-system are apt to
coalesce into one; and a new spectral analysis is
required to dissociate them.

Nor would it be safe to assume that the tendencies
which have demonstrably operated to falsify the
more remote records have been altogether inactive
during the last ten years. The causes which tend to
sophisticate narratives of this kind, as already shown,
are many and difficult to detect; the kind of evidence
required to place the alleged death-coincidence beyond

1 There is another possible explanation viz. . that some of the
recent death- coincidences have been withheld from us, on account of
the painful associations connected with them. That some cases and
recent would be more affected than remote examples have been with-
held on this account seems certain ; but the explanation given in the
text must, it is thought, be held primarily^ responsible for the dis-
crepancy in the figures.

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL. 223

reasonable doubt has in some cases never existed ;
in others, through the destruction of documents, the
death of friends, or the mere lapse of time, it is
now unattainable. Of the 65 reported coincidences
perhaps not more than one-fifth reach the evidential
standard of the cases included in this volume. And
whilst there is a strong presumption that some pro-
portion of those, which from one or other of the
causes suggested inevitably fall below the standard,
yet represent facts with substantial accuracy, we have
no test which will enable us to determine with
precision what narratives and to what extent are
worthy of credence. Many of the best-attested cases
are printed in full in the Report already referred to,
and any reader who is interested in the matter will
be able to form an estimate for himself. Meanwhile,
an attempt has been made, by means of a careful
examination of each narrative in detail, to estimate
its evidential value. In the result it would appear
that about 44 narratives rest on evidence that may be
regarded as fairly good, Of these 44 cases, however,
12 must be struck out, 3 as having been imported
into the census, 1 and 9 because a certain amount of
anxiety may be presumed to have existed, and may
be supposed though the evidence for such action
is very slight to have caused the hallucination.
We thus have 32 cases remaining, in which we
have evidence of the occurrence of a hallucination,
without apparent cause, within twelve hours of the
death of the person seen.

The total number of recognised apparitions of
living persons recorded at first-hand as occurring in
the circle of 17,000 persons from which these death-
coincidences were drawn, is 322. 2 But if, in order

1 Cases, that is, in which the collector is known or suspected to have
asked the question of the narrator, because he knew that he was to
receive an affirmative answer.

2 The gross total of visual phantasms recorded at first-hand as
representing a living human being, or part of a human being (<?.., a
hand or a face), is 381. This total includes cases given in columns I, 4,

224 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

to allow for forgetfulness, as already indicated (p. 221),
we multiply the number recorded by 4, we shall
arrive at a total of 1288, as representing the
probable number actually experienced by our in-
formants since the age of ten. We have, there-
fore, 32 cases of hallucinations coinciding with the
death of the person seen, in an estimated total
of nearly 1300 recognised apparitions of living
persons or about I in 40. But the death-rate for
England and Wales in the last completed decade
being 19.15 per 1000 per annum, the average prob-
ability that any particular person will die on any
particular day is IQQQX 3 5 = a b out I j n I9jOOO That

is, there is one chance in 19,000 that a man will die
on the day on which his apparition is seen and
recognised, supposing there to be no causal connec-
tion between the two events. Or in other words, for
every hallucination which coincides with the death
of the person seen, we should have to find about
18,999 similar hallucinations (/.&, recognised appari-
tions of living persons) which do not so coincide.
But after making due allowance for forgetful-

and 5 of the table on p. 218. From this total we have deducted 31
cases where the percipient has had other experiences but has not
enumerated them, and 28 cases which are estimated to have occurred
before the age of ten, leaving the total given in the text, 322.

Of the gross total of 381, 80 are alleged to have coincided with the
death of the person represented. Deducting in like manner 7 cases
where the percipient has had other unspecified experiences, and 8 where
the experience is believed to have occurred before the age of ten, we
reach the total of 65 given above.

As, however, more care was no doubt taken to procure first-hand
evidence in the case of apparitions coinciding wjth a death than in
other cases, it would perhaps lead to more accurate results if in the
larger total were included the second-hand non-coincidental cases, 38 in
number. The reader can, if he prefer, work out the result for himself
on this basis. But it will, of course, be understood that it is not
practicable to sum up in a few pages the results of a long investigation ;
and those readers who are interested in the nature and distribution of
casual hallucinations, and their relations to telepathic apparitions, are
referred to the forthcoming Report, from which the figures in the text
are quoted.

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL. 225

ness on the one hand, and for the creative activity
of the imagination on the other, we find the actual
proportion to be I to 40. In the face of these figures
it would be preposterous to ascribe the reported cases
of hallucinations at thq time of death to chance. And
the argument for some causal connection between
hallucinations and external events is of course
considerably strengthened if, in addition to (a) the
coincidences of visual hallucinations with death, we
take account of () the coincidences of auditory
hallucinations with death, and (c) the coincidences of
both visual and auditory hallucinations with other
events than death, and (d} the cases in which the
coincidence of the apparition with the death is nearer
than twelve hours, the limit assumed in the above
calculations.

It may not be superfluous to repeat (see ante, p.
27, footnote) that the calculation above given does
not purport to establish thought-transference as the
cause of these coincidences. The cause may be a
greater prevalence of exaggeration and memory-
illusion than the Committee have allowed for. What
the calculation does is to bring us face to face with
the problem : Here are certain phenomena, demon-
strably not due to chance: do they reveal a new
mode of communication between human minds, or
merely a new source of fallacy in human testimony?
It will hardly be disputed that, in either event, to find
an answer to the question will justify much labour
spent upon the search.

226

CHAPTER X.

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS.

IN the present chapter we revert once more to
experimental evidence. The cases now to be dis-
cussed should, in the logical order, have been included
in Chapter V., and for a proper appreciation of their
theoretic bearings and evidential value they ought to
be considered in connection with the instances of
thought-transference at a distance there recorded.
It seemed best, however, to separate these instances
of the experimental production of hallucinations at
a distance, and reserve them for subsequent treat-
ment, with the view of anticipating as far as possible
the misconceptions to which this class of evidence
is peculiarly open. In brief, until some attempt had
been made to elucidate the nature of sensory hallu-
cination in general, it seemed unwise to introduce
matter so controvertible as apparitions of the human
figure. For we are here assailing the last fortress of
superstition ; in discussing such matters even edu-
cated persons find it difficult to free themselves
from the fetters of traditional modes of thought
and speech. Men who would be ashamed to think
of earth, air, fire, and water as elements, because
they were so held a century ago and are now so
styled in the language of the market-place, will
often see no middle course between rejecting alto-
gether evidence of the kind here dealt with, and
accepting the existence of "ghosts." But those

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS. 227

who have followed the argument of the preceding
chapters will see, if the possibility of thought-trans-
ference is granted, that the narratives now to be
presented fall naturally into place as illustrating
one of its modes of manifestation. That A. by
taking thought should cause an image of himself
to appear to B. need provoke no more surprise
than that by the same means he should cause B.
to see No. 27, or the Queen of Hearts. No one
demands a spiritual entity corresponding to the
Queen of Hearts, why then should any one believe
in the other case that A.'s spirit had left its fleshly
tabernacle to interview B. ? The hallucinatory figure
induced post-hypnotically in certain subjects presents
an even closer parallel. It is recognised by all in
such a case that the figure seen is a thought fashioned
by the subject's mind, with no more substance than
any other thought. It is only the influence of an
unrecognised animism which leads us to demand
such a substantial basis when the figure seen repre-
sents a dying man. The impulse which led to the
projection of the hallucination was in the one case
conveyed by word of mouth, in the other by some
process as yet not understood. But the mystery lies
in the process rather than in the result.

The present chapter, then, will contain instances
of the action of thought-transference in which the
transmitted idea was translated in the percipient's
mind, not, as in most of the cases described in pre-
vious chapters, into a simple feeling, or sensation,
or dream, but into a hallucination representing the
human figure. Readers of Phantasms of the Living
will remember the accounts there given (vol. i. pp.
104-109) of some experiments made by a friend
of ours, Mr. S. H. B. On several occasions Mr. B.
succeeded by an effort of will in causing a phantom
of himself to appear to acquaintances who were not
aware of his intention to try the experiment. On
one occasion the figure was seen by two persons

228 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

simultaneously. As at that time results of the
kind were almost unprecedented, we felt, notwith-
standing our full confidence in Mr. B., some reluct-
ance in publishing an account of his experiments,
lest isolated marvels of the kind might prejudice
our whole case. But fortunately, while Phantasms
of the Living was actually passing through the press,
we received from an independent source an account
of successful experiments of the same kind (see
below, case 63), and within a few weeks of its
publication a friend of the present writer was
induced by a perusal of Mr. B.'s narrative to make
on his own account a similar trial, which com-
pletely succeeded. This gentleman wrote to me
on 1 6th November 1886 as follows:

No. 6 1. From the REV. CLARENCE GODFREY.

" I was so impressed by the account on p 105 that I de-
termined to put the matter to an experiment.

" Retiring at 10.45 [ n tne I5 tri November 1886] I determined
to appear, if possible, to a friend, and accordingly I set myself
to work with all the volitional and determinative energy which
I possess, to stand at the foot of her bed. I need not say that
I never dropped the slightest hint beforehand as to my intention,
such as could mar the experiment, nor had I mentioned the
subject to her. As the * agent 1 I may describe rny own
experiences.

Undoubtedly the imaginative faculty was brought exten-
sively into play, as well as the volitional, for I endeavoured to
translate myself^ spiritually, into her room, and to attract her
attention, as it were, while standing there. My effort was
sustained for perhaps eight minutes, after which I felt tired,
and was soon asleep.

" The next thing I was conscious of was meeting the lady
next morning (/>., in a dream, I suppose ?) and asking her at
once if she had seen me last night. The reply came, 'Yes.'
'How?' I inquired. Then in words strangely clear and low,
like a well audible whisper, came the answer, * I was sitting
beside you.' These words, so clear, awoke me instantly, and I
felt I must have been dreaming ; but on reflection I remem-
bered what I had been * willing' before I fell asleep, and it
struck me, ' This must be a reflex action from the percipient.'
My watch showed 3.40 A.M. The following is what I wrote

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS. 229

immediately in pencil, standing in my night-dress : 'As I
reflected upon those clear words, they struck me as being quite
intuitive, I mean subjective ', and to have proceeded from within y
as my own conviction^ rather than a communication from any
one else. And yet I can't remember her face at all, as one can
after a vivid dream ! '

" But the words were uttered in a clear, quick tone, which
was most remarkable, and awoke me at once.

*' My friend in the note with which she sent me the enclosed
account of her own experience, says : * I remember the man
put all the lamps out soon after I came upstairs, and that is
only done about a quarter to four.'"

Mr. Godfrey received from the percipient on the
1 6th November an account of her side of the ex-
perience, and at his request she wrote it down as
follows :

"Yesterday viz., the morning of November i6th, 1886
about half-past three o'clock, I woke up with a start and an idea
that some one had come into the room. I heard a curious sound,
but fancied it might be the birds in the ivy outside. Next I
experienced a strange restless longing to leave the room and go
downstairs. This feeling became so overpowering that at last
I rose and lit a candle, and went down, thinking if I could get
some soda water it might have a quieting effect. On returning
to my room I saw Mr. Godfrey standing under the large window
on the staircase. He was dressed in his usual style, and with
an expression on his face that I have noticed when he has been
looking very earnestly at anything. He stood there, and I held
up the candle and gazed at him for three or four seconds in
utter amazement, and then, as I passed up the staircase, he dis-
appeared. The impression left on my mind was so vivid that I
fully intended waking a friend who occupied the same room as
myself, but remembering that I should only be laughed at as
romantic and imaginative, refrained from doing so.

" I was not frightened at the appearance of Mr. Godfrey, but
felt much excited, and could not sleep afterwards."

On the 2 ist of the same month I heard a full
account of the incident given above from Mr. Godfrey,

and on the day following from Mrs. . Mrs.

told me that the figure appeared quite distinct and
life-like at first, though she could not remember to
have noticed more than the upper part of the body.
As she looked it grew more and more shadowy, and

APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

finally faded away. Mrs. , it should be added,

told me that she had previously seen two phantasmal
figures, representing a parent whom she had recently
lost. 1

Mr. Godfrey at our request made two other trials,
without, of course, letting Mrs. know his inten-
tion. The first of these attempts was without result,
owing perhaps to the date chosen, as he was aware
at the time, being unsuitable. But a trial made
on the 7th December 1886 succeeded completely.

Mrs. , writing on December 8th, states that she

was awakened by hearing a voice cry, " Wake," and
by feeling a hand rest on the left side of her head.
She then saw stooping over her a figure which she
recognised as Mr. Godfrey's.

In this last case the dress of the figure does not
seem to have been seen distinctly. But in the
apparition of the i6th November, it will be observed
that the dress was that ordinarily worn in the day-
time by Mr. Godfrey, and that in which the percipient
would be accustomed to see him, not the dress which
he was actually wearing at the time. If the appari-
tion is in truth nothing more than an expression of the
percipient's thought this is what we should expect to
find, and as a matter of fact in the majority of well
evidenced narratives of telepathic hallucination this
is what we actually do find. The dress and surround-
ings of the phantasm represent, not the dress and
surroundings of the agent at the moment, but those
with which the percipient is familiar. If other proof
were wanting, this fact would in itself seem a suffi-
cient argument that we have to deal, not with ghosts
but with hallucinations. It is to be regretted, how-
ever, that most recent experimenters in this direction
have succeeded only in producing apparitions of
themselves. But a crucial experiment of the kind
desired is to be found in an account published in

1 These details are taken from notes made t>y the writer immediately
after the interview.

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS. 23!

1822 by H. M. Wcsermann, Government Assessor and
Chief Inspector of Roads at Diisseldorf. He records
five successful trials with different percipients, of
which the fifth seems worth quoting in full. 1

No. 62. From H. M. WESERMANN.

" A lady, who had been dead five years, was to appear to Lieu-
tenant n in a dream at 10.30 P.M. and incite him to good

deeds. At half-past ten, contrary to expectation, Herr n had

not gone to bed, but was discussing the French campaign with

his friend Lieutenant S in the ante-room. Suddenly the

door of the room opened, the lady entered dressed in white, with

a black kerchief and uncovered head, greeted S with her

hand three times in a friendly manner ; then turned to n,

nodded to him, and returned again through the doorway.

" As this story, related to me by Lieutenant n, seemed to

be too remarkable from a psychological point of view for the
truth of it not to be duly established, I wrote to Lieutenant

S , who was living six 2 miles away, and asked him to give

me his account of it. He sent me the following reply :

"'. . . On the I3th of March, 1817, Herr n came to

pay me a visit at my lodgings about a league from A . He

stayed the night with me. After supper, and when we were

both undressed, I was sitting on my bed and Herr n was

standing by the door of the next room on the point also of
going to bed. This was about half-past ten. We were speaking
partly about indifferent subjects and partly about the events of
the French campaign. Suddenly the door out of the kitchen
opened without a sound, and a lady entered, very pale, taller

than Herr n, about five feet four inches in height, strong and

broad of figure, dressed in white, but with a large black kerchief
which reached to below the waist. She entered with bare head,
greeted me with the hand three times in complimentary fashion,

turned round to the left towards Herr n, and waved her

hand to him three times; after which the figure quietly, and
again without any creaking of the door, went out. We followed
at once in order to discover whether there were any deception,

1 Der Magnetismus und die allgemeine Weltsprachc. A brief account
of the five trials, quoted from the Archiv fur den thierischen Mag-
netismus, vol. vi. pp. 136-139, will be found in Phantasms of the
Living, vol. i. pp. 101, 102. In the other cases the impression was
produced in a dream. The distance varied from ^ of a mile to 9
miles in the case quoted in the text.

2 In Wesermann's book, as also in the account given in the Archiv>
the account is headed " Fifth experiment at a distance Qinine miles."

232 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

but found nothing. The strangest thing was this, that our night-
watch of two men whom I had shortly before found on the watch
were now asleep, though at my first call they were on the alert,
and that the door of the room, which always opens with a good
deal of noise, did not make the slightest sound when opened by
the figure. "<S.

'D n, January nth, 1818.'

" From this story (Wesermann continues) the following con-
clusions may be drawn :

" (i) That waking persons, as well as sleeping, are capable of
perceiving the ideas \_Gedankenbildcr\ of distant friends through
the inner sense as dream images. For not only the opening
and shutting of the door, but the figure itself which, moreover,
exactly resembled that of the dead lady was incontestably only
a dream in the waking state, since the door would have creaked
as usual had the figure really opened and shut it.

" (2) That many apparitions and supposed effects of witchcraft
were very probably produced in the same way.

" (3) That clairvoyants are not mistaken when they state that
a stream of light proceeds from the magnetiser to the distant
friend, which visibly presents the scene thought of, if the mag-
netiser thinks of it strongly and without distraction."

More philosophic or more successful than recent
investigators, Wesermann, it will be seen, varied the
form of his experiment. In the first he caused his
own figure to appear, but in each of the subsequent
trials he chose a fresh image, meeting on each occasion
with equal success. It should be observed, however,
that though Wesermann seems to have been a careful
as well as a philosophic investigator, he has omitted
to record how often he made trials of this kind with-
out producing any result, and it cannot fairly be
assumed that there were no failures. But in compar-
ing such cases as those here recorded with the experi-
ments at close quarters described in Chapters II., III.,
and IV., it should be remembered that a failure which
consists merely, as in Mr. Godfrey's second trial, in
the absence of any unusual impression on the part of
the percipient, detracts far less from the value of
occasional success than failures attested by the produc-
tion of wrong impressions ; and further, that a sensory

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS. 233

hallucination being a much rarer phenomenon than
an idea, the improbability of chance-coincidence be-
tween a hallucination and the attempt (unknown to
the percipient) to produce it is greater in the same
proportion.

Later experience has not confirmed Wesermann's
third inference, as to the stream of light proceeding
from the agent; there are no grounds for regarding
such an appearance as other than subjective, due to
the percipient's preconceived ideas of what he ought
to see. But another feature in the narrative is more
significant. One is led to infer both from Herr S.'s
description and from Wesermann's remarks in (i) that
the figure seen resembled a deceased lady who was
not known to either of the percipients. If this inter-
pretation is correct, the figure seen cannot have been
subjective in the same sense as the hallucinations
described in Chapter IX. and Mr. Godfrey's appari-
tion may be supposed to have been. The latter were,
ex hypothesi^ autoplastic i.e., they were hallucinations
built up in the percipient's own mind on a nucleus sup-
plied from without But what Herren S. and n

saw was a heteroplastic image, a picture like that of a
diagram or a card transferred ready-made from the
agent's mind. We should not of course be justified,
on the evidence of a single narrative of somewhat
doubtful import, in concluding that such an origin
for a hallucination is possible. But there are a few
narratives to be cited later (Chapter XI 1 1.) which also
suggest such an interpretation.

In Mr. Godfrey's trials, as also in those made by
Mr. S. H. B., the agent was asleep at the time of
the experiment 1 In the two cases which follow the
agent was in a hypnotic trance. In the first instance,
it will be seen, there appears to have been a reciprocal
effect, the agent himself becoming aware at the time
of the percipient's surroundings, and of the effect pro-

1 Wesermann unfortunately does not record his own state at the tim*
of the experiments.

234 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

duced on her by his influence. The account was sent
to us in January 1886.

No. 63. From MR. H. P. SPARKS.

After describing various hypnotic experiments on
a fellow-student, Mr. A. H. W. Cleave, Mr. Sparks
continues:

" Last Friday evening (January I5th, 1886) he expressed his
wish to see a young lady living in Wandsworth, and he also
said he would try to make himself seen by her I accordingly
mesmerised him, and continued the long passes for about 20
minutes, concentrating my will on his idea. When he came
round (I brought him round by just touching his hand and
willing him, after i hour and 20 minutes' trance) he said he had
seen her in the dining-room, and that after a time she grew
restless, and then suddenly looked straight at him and then
covered her eyes with her hands. Just after this he came
round. Last Monday evening (January i8th, 1886) we did the
same thing, and this time he said he thought he had frightened
her, as after she had looked at him for a few minutes she fell
back in her chair in a sort of faint. Her little brother was in the
room at the time. Of course, after this we expected a letter if
the vision was real; and on Wednesday morning he received
a letter from this young lady asking whether anything had
happened to him, as on Friday evening she was startled by
seeing him standing at the door of the room. After a minute
he disappeared, and she thought that it might have been fancy ;
but on the Monday evening she was still more startled by seeing
him again, and this time much clearer, and it so frightened her
that she nearly fainted.

" This account I send you is perfectly true, I will vouch, for
I have two independent witnesses who were in the dormitory at
the time when he was mesmerised, and when he came round.
My patient's name is Arthur H. W. Cleave, and his age is
1 8 years. A. C. Darley and A. S. Thurgood, fellow-students,
are the two witnesses I mentioned. " H. PERCY SPARKS."

Mr. Cleave writes, on March isth, 1886:

"H.M.S. Marlborotigh, PORTSMOUTH.

" Sparks and myself have, for the past eighteen months, been
in the habit of holding mesmeric stances in pur dormitories.
For the first month or two we got no very satisfactory results,
but after that we succeeded in sending one another to sleep.
I could never get Sparks further than the sleeping state, but he

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS. 23$

could make me do anything he liked whilst I was under the
influence ; so I gave up trying to send him off, and all our
efforts were made towards my being mesmerised. After a short
time we got on so well that Sparks had three or four other
fellows in the dormitory to witness what I did. I was quite
insensible to all pain, as the fellows have repeatedly pinched
my hands and legs without my feeling it About six months
ago I tried my power of will, in order, while under the influence,
to see persons to whom I was strongly attached. For some
time I was entirely unsuccessful, although I once thought that I
saw my brother (who is in Australia), but had no opportunity of
verifying the vision.

" A short time ago I tried to see a young lady whom I know
very well, and was perfectly surprised at my success. I could
see her as plainly as I can see now, but I could not make myself
seen by her, although I had often tried to. After I had done
this several times I determined to try and make myself seen by
her, and told Sparks of my idea, which he approved. Well, we
tried this for five nights running without any more success. We
then suspended our endeavours for a night or two, as I was
rather over-exerted by the continued efforts and got severe
headaches. We then tried again (on, I think it was, a Friday,
but am not certain), and were, I thought, successful ; but as the
young lady did not write to me about it, I thought I must have
been mistaken, so I told Sparks that we had better give up
trying. But he begged me to try once more, which we did on
the following Monday, when we were successful to such an
extent that I felt rather alarmed. (I must tell you that I am in
the habit of writing to the young lady every Sunday, but I did
not write that week, it order to make her think about me.)
This took place between 9.30 P.M. and 10 P.M. Monday night,
and on the following Wednesday morning I got the letter which
I have enclosed. I, of course, then knew I had been successful.
I went home about a fortnight after this, when I saw the young
lady, who seemed very frightened in spite of my explanations,
and begged me never to try it again, and I promised her that I
would not."

The two witnesses of the experiment last described
write as follows:

" I have seen Mr. Cleave's account of his mesmeric experi-
ment, and can fully vouch for the truth thereof.

"A. C DARLEY."

"I have read Mr. Cleave's statement, and can vouch for the
truth of it, as I was present when he was mesmerised and heard
his statement after he revived. "A. E. S. THURGOOD."

236 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

The following is a copy, made by Mr. Gurney, of

the letter in which the young lady, Miss A ,

described her side of the affair. The envelope bore
the postmarks, " Wandsworth, Jan. 19, 1886," "Ports-
mouth, Jan. 20, 1886," and the address, "Mr. A. H.
W. Cleave, H.M.S. Marlborough, Portsmouth."

" WANDSWORTH, Tuesday morning.

" DEAR ARTHUR, Has anything happened to you ? Please
write and let me know at once, for I have been so frightened.

" Last Tuesday evening I was sitting in the dining [room]
reading, when I happened to look up, and could have declared
I saw you standing at the door looking at me. I put my hand-
kerchief to my eyes, and when I looked again you were gone.
I thought it must have been only my fancy, but last night
(Monday), while I was at supper, I saw you again, just as
before, and was so frightened that I nearly fainted. Luckily
only my brother was there, or it would have attracted attention.
Now do write at once and tell me how you are. I really cannot
write any more now."

It will be seen that Miss A fixes the date

of her first hallucination on Ttiesday, whereas Mr.
Sparks and Mr. Cleave speak of it as Friday. Mr.
Gurney, in conversation with the experimenters, was
unable to fix the actual date with any certainty, but
there can be little doubt that if Tuesday was the day,
it fell within the five days on which Mr. Cleave
attempted to see Miss A . Of the second coin-
cidence there can be no doubt.

The next case is recorded by Mr. F. W. H. Myers
(Journal S.P.R., March 1891), who writes:

No. 64.

"In 1888 a gentleman, whom I will call Mr. A., who has
occupied a high public position in India, and whom I have
known a long time, informed me verbally that he had had a
remarkable experience. He awoke one morning, in India, very
early, and in the dawning light saw a lady, whom I will call
Mrs. B., standing at the foot of his bed. At the same time he
received an impression that she needed him. This was his sole
experience of a hallucination ; and it so much impressed him
that he wrote to the lady, who was in England at the time, and

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS. 237

mentioned the circumstance. He afterwards heard from her
that she had been in a trance-condition at the time, and had
endeavoured to appear to him by way of an experiment.

" Mr. A. did not give me the lady's name, supposing that she
did not desire the incident to be spoken of ; nor did he find an
opportunity of himself inquiring as to her willingness to mention
the matter."

Subsequently, on July I3th, 1890, the agent, Mrs.
B., wrote of her own accord to Mr. Myers. Mrs. B.
began by stating that she had submitted herself to be
experimented upon by a lady friend, with the view of
acquiring clairvoyant faculties. She then described
how in the course of one experiment in 1886 she lost
consciousness of outward things, and saw the figure
of a tall woman, whom she recognised as a friend of
her mother's, standing by her. Then she goes on :

" I find myself seriously debating within myself what I should
do to prove to myself, and for my own satisfaction, if I am
indeed the victim of hallucination or not. I decided in a flash
on a man whom I knew to be possessed of the most work-a-day
world common-sense ; his views and mine regarding most
things were at the antipodes, very unreceptive, who would be
entirely out of sympathy with me in my present experiment and
experiences, at which I knew he would only laugh, while regard-
ing me as a simple tool in tricky hands. Such a man was, I
decided, the most satisfactory for my trial. The grey lady here
impressed me with a desire to will ; in her anxiety she appeared
to move towards me. I felt her will one with mine, and I willed
with a concentrated strength of mind and body, which finally
prostrated me, thus : I will that [Mr. A.] may feel I am near
him and want his help ; and that, without any suggestion from
me, he write to tell me I have influenced him to-night.

"The grey lady disappeared. I was seated in the chair,
weary, but feeling naturally, and back in common-place life.
We put down the date and the appearance of the grey lady, and
I spoke to none of what had happened. Some weeks passed,
when I received a letter from [Mr. A.], asking how had I been
employed on a certain July evening at such and such an hour,
mentioning to what hour it would answer in London day, date,
and hour were those on which I had made my proof trial
saying that he was asleep, and had dreamed something he
would tell me, but that he awoke from the dream feeling I
wanted something of him, and asking me to let him know if at
the time he so carefully mentioned I hac} been doing- anything

238 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

which had any reference to him. I then, and then only, told
him what I have here related."

Unfortunately Mr. A., on being again appealed to,
refused to write an account of his own experience, on
the ground that his memory for details might by
lapse of time have become untrustworthy. The case
is therefore defective, not merely by the length of
time which passed between the incident and the
agent's record of it, but by the absence of any direct
testimony from the percipient. It will be seen that
Mrs. B. writes of Mr. A.'s impression as a dream. It
seems clear, however, that Mr. A. did not himself
regard his experience as a dream.

An interesting account is given by Miss Edith
Maughan (Journal S.P.R^) of a similar experiment
made by her in the summer of 1888. She was
reading in bed when the idea occurred to her of
"willing" to appear to her friend, Miss Ethel
Thompson, who occupied the adjoining room. After
concentrating her attention strongly for a few minutes
she "felt dizzy and only half-conscious." On re-
covering full consciousness she heard Miss Thomp-
son's voice speaking in the next room. The time was
about 2 A.M. As a matter of fact, Miss Thompson,
who was fully awake, was disturbed between 2 and
3 A.M. by seeing at the bedside the figure of Miss
Maughan, which disappeared instantly on a light
being struck. It is not perhaps possible under the
circumstances, in view of Miss Maughan's own state-
ment that she was only semi-conscious during part of
the experiment, absolutely to exclude the hypothesis
that the figure seen was that of Miss Maughan in
some state analogous to somnambulism, and the case
is not therefore given in full; but it is important to
note that both ladies and we have reason to know
that they are good observers are convinced that the
figure seen was not that of Miss Maughan in the
flesh, and the rapidity of the disappearance is a
further argument against such a supposition.

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS. 239

In the cases so far dealt with the agent, when
his state is recorded, was asleep or entranced at
the time of the experiment, whilst the percipient
appears as a rule to have been awake. In the
cases which follow the agent was awake, but the
percipient, in two of the cases if not also in the
third seems to have seen the hallucinatory figure
in the borderland state on awaking from sleep. In
two of the cases the agent, no doubt intentionally,
chose a time when he had reason to believe that
the percipient would be asleep; in the third case,
whilst the experiments at night failed, success was
obtained when the percipient had fallen asleep un-
expectedly in the day-time. In view of the absence
of any well-attested cases in which both agent and
percipient are shown to have been fully awake imme-
diately before and at the time of the experiment,
in case 62 (Wesermann) the state of the agent, and
in case 66 ( Wiltse) that of the percipient, is not clearly
shown, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that
the condition of sleep or trance in one or both parties
to the experiment is favourable to transference of this
kind. That sleep, or rather the borderland which lies
on either side of sleep, is peculiarly favourable to the
production in the percipient, not only of hallucinations
in general, but of telepathic hallucinations in particular,
has already been shown. But the instances cited in
the present chapter would seem to indicate that in the
agent also sleep and trance (or possibly a trance self-
induced in sleep or in waking) may facilitate such
transmissions.

No. 65. From DR. VON SCHRENCK-NOTZING.

We received the following case from Baron von
Schrenck-Notzing, some of whose experiments have
been already quoted (No. 9, p. 54). Dr. von Schrenck-
Notzing first gave an account of the incident verbally
to Professor Sidgwick at Munich, and subsequently,

240 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

at his request, sent in June 1888 the following written
narrative :

"In the winter of 1886-87, I think it was in the month of
February, as I was going along the Barerstrasse one even-
ing at half- past u, it occurred to me to make an attempt
at influencing at a distance, through mental concentration.
As I had had, for some time, the honour of being acquainted
with the family of Herr , and thus had had the oppor-
tunity of learning that his daughter, Fraulein , was sen-
sitive to psychical influences, I decided to try to influence
her, especially as the family lived at the corner of the
Barerstrasse and Karlstrasse. The windows of the dwell-
ing were dark as I passed by, from which I concluded that
the ladies had already gone to rest. I then stationed myself
by the wall of the houses on the opposite side of the road,
and for about five minutes firmly concentrated my thoughts on

the following desire: Fraulein shall wake and think of

me. Then I went home. The next day when I met Fraulein
's friend on the ice, I learned from her (they shared a bed-
room between them) that something strange had happened
to the ladies during the preceding night. I remarked there-
upon to Fraulein Prieger (such was the friend's name) that
the time when the occurrence took place was between half-
past ii and 12; whereat she was greatly astonished. Then I
obtained from the lady an account of the circumstance, as she
herself has written it out on the accompanying sheet of paper.
For me the success of this experiment was a proof that under
certain circumstances one person can influence another at a
distance.

" ALBERT FREIHERR VON SCHRENCK-NOTZING."

The percipient, Miss , writes on May nth

1888 :

" There is not much to tell concerning the incident of which
you ask me to give an account. It happened thus: Baron
Schrenck was returning home one night in March 1887 (or
April, I am not sure as to the date), about 11.30, and stood
for some time outside my bedroom window, which looked on-
to the street. I was in bed at the time, lying with closed eyes,
nearly asleep. It seemed to me as if the part of the room
where my bed was had become suddenly light, and I felt com-
pelled to open my eyes, seeing at the same time, as it appeared
to me, the face of Baron Schrenck. It was gone again as quick
as lightning. The next day I told my friend Fraulein Prieger
of this occurrence ; she went skating that same day, and met
Baron Schrenck on the ice. They had scarcely conversed

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS. 24!

together five minutes before he asked Fraulein Prieger if I
had seen 'anything last night. Fraulein Prieger repeated what
I had told her, whereupon Baron Schrenck said that, at the
time of my seeing him, he was standing outside my window,
trying hard to impress his presence upon me. This never
occurred again, and I believe Baron Schrenck did not have
occasion to repeat the experiment."

In a further letter Miss adds (i) that the

blinds of her room were drawn down, (2) that she
has experienced no other hallucination of any kind.

Fraulein Prieger, whose account was enclosed in
Dr. von Schrenck-Notzing's letter of June 1888,
writes :

" The winter before last, shortly after Christmas, I was suddenly
awakened in the night, between n and 12 o'clock, by my friend

, who asked me in an excited manner if I also saw Baron

von Schrenck, who was close by her bed. On my objecting
that she had been dreaming, and should now quietly go to sleep
again, she repeated that she had been completely awake, and
had seen Baron von Schrenck so close to her that she could have
caught hold of his beard. By degrees she quieted herself, and
we both went to sleep.

" The following day, on my way home from the ice, I told
Baron von Schrenck of this exciting nocturnal scene, and
noticed to my not slight astonishment that he seemed greatly
rejoiced, as though over a successful experiment which had
received its completion in what I communicated to him.

"LINA PRIEGER.

" Gubelsbergerstrasse, 15 I."

It is much to be regretted that none of the persons
concerned thought it worth while to write down an
account of the incident at the time. It will be
observed that even in the comparatively short interval
little more than a year which elapsed before this
was done, one slight discrepancy, as to the time at
which Fraulein Prieger was told of the impression,
has crept into the narrative. But it seems clear that

Miss told her experience before Fraulein Prieger

met Baron von Schrenck-Notzing.

In the next two cases also the result here recorded

16

242 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

is one of many successful experiments in thought-
transference made by the agent (see Chapter XV.).

No. 66. From DR. WlLTSE, Skiddy, Kansas, U.S.A.

"March i6//fc, 1891.

" Some weeks ago several persons were passing- the evening
at my house, and two children, a little girl of eight years and
a boy of six years, whose mother is stopping- with us, had been
put to bed in an adjoining room, the door between the rooms
being closed. The company were engaged in games that did
not interest me, and I took a seat some five feet from the bed-
room door and began trying to make the boy see my form in
the room at his bedside, he being on the front side of the bed.
I knew the children were awake, as I could hear them laughing.
After some ten or fifteen minutes, the boy suddenly screamed as
if frightened, and, hurrying in there, I found the little fellow
buried up in the bedclothes and badly frightened, but he seemed
ashamed of his fright and would not tell me what was the
matter.

" I kept the matter of my having tried an experiment a
thorough secret, and after some two weeks it came out through
the little girl that Charlie thought he saw a " great big tiger
standing by his bed looking at him, and he could see Uncle
Hime (myself) in the tiger's eyes." What was the tiger? I had
not thought of any form but my own. The child lives in
Cleveland, Ohio, and has seen the collections in Zoological
Gardens, but has not been taught the different colours. I have
just now shown him the plates in Wood's Natural History, and
he pointed out a lion as the animal he saw, but as the plates are
not coloured, they are little good for the purpose ; but as I began
at the back of the book and took through all sorts first, and the
lion was the first and only animal designated by him as the one
he had seen in the room, I conclude he was near enough to the
classification for our purpose. No one but myself knew of my
experiment until the children had told their story.

"A. S. WILTSE."
Dr. Wiltse writes later:

" SKIDDY, MORRIS Co., KANSAS,

March 29^, 1891.

" I tried one more experiment of the same kind with the little
boy, but failed, but I was conscious of wavering in mind during
the whole course of the experiment, and besides this there were
other unfavourable conditions. The child's mother was absent
for the evening and the children with my own boy (aged fifteen)
were making Rome howl in the way of untrammelled fun."

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS. 243

Mrs. Wiltse and Dr. Wiltse's son write as follows:

" SKIDDY, KANSAS,

March 2%th, 1891.

" I was present when Josie Skene told papa what her brother
Charlie was scared about.

" She said that Charlie throwed the cover over his head and
told her that he saw a tiger, and Uncle Hime, as he called papa,
was in the tiger's eyes.

" JASON WILTSE."

" I certify that the above statement is substantially correct,
as 1 also heard the little girl relate it.

" MRS. HAIDEE WILTSE."

Mrs. Charles Skene, the mother of the little boy,
writes :

" 153 PLATT STREET [CLEVELAND, OHIO],
April qtk, 1891.

" Your letter dated the 6th came to hand to-day. I was on
a visit to the Dr. and his family, and one evening he said he
would try an experiment on my little boy; it was about seven
o'clock and they had just been put to bed. The Dr. wanted to
make him see him by his bedside, and him in the other room,
and he did; he saw him in the form of a tiger and he also had
tigers in his eyes. He commenced to shout, and said he was
frightened, but did not say any more, he was so frightened. This
is my daughter's statement as far as she can recollect.

" If there are anymore questions you would like me to answer
I will gladly do so. I was not at home the night this happened.

" MRS. CHAS. SKENE."

Later she adds :

"April 2>jth, 1891.

"Your letter of the I7th came to hand. I do not know the
date, but it was about the middle of February, on a Wednesday
evening. My little boy is six years old; he remembers it well,
and often talks of it."

Mrs. Skene added, in answer to a question, that the
boy did not know that the experiment was being
tried on him. It should be added that Mr. Rasero,
who was present, wrote, on the 3Oth October 1891, to
confirm Dr. Wiltse's statement that nothing was said
beforehand about trying an experiment of any kind.

The tiger in this experiment appears to have been

244 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

a confused nightmare effect produced by the tele-
pathic impression on the mind of the child percipient
In the next case, it will be seen, the percept appears
to have been unusually clear and distinct

No. 67. From JOSEPH KiRK. 1

Mr. Kirk has made several attempts to produce a
hallucination of himself. Writing to us on the 7th July
1890, he stated that without the knowledge of his friend
and neighbour, Miss G., he tried each night, from the
loth to the 2Oth of June, and once on the nth in the
afternoon, to induce her to see a hallucination of him-
self. From casual conversation, however, with Miss
G. he gathered that no effect had been produced.
But on June 23rd Mr. Kirk learned that the trial
made on June nth, the day and hour of which had
been noted at the time, had completely succeeded.
He thus describes the occasion :

" 2 RIPON VILLAS, PLUMSTEAD.

" . . . I had been rather closely engaged on some auditing
work, which had tired me, and as near as I can remember the
time was between 3.30 and 4 P.M. that I laid down my pencil,
stretched myself, and in the act of doing the latter I was seized
with the impulse to make a trial on Miss G. I did not, of
course, know where she was at the moment, but, with a flash,
as it were, I transferred myself to her bedroom. I cannot say
why I thought of that spot, unless it was that I did so because
my first experiment had been made there/.*., on the previous
night, the loth June. As it happened, it was what I must call
a lucky shot,' for I caught her at the moment she was lightly
sleeping in her chair a condition which seems to be peculiarly
favourable to receiving and externalising telepathic messages.

" The figure seen by Miss G. was clothed in a suit I was at
the moment wearing, and was bareheaded, the latter as would
be the case, of course, in an office. This suit is of a dark
reddish-brown check stuff, and it was an unusual circumstance
for me to have had on the coat at the time, as I wear, as a rule,
an office coat of light material. But this office coat I had, a
day or so before, sent to a tailor to be repaired, and I had,
therefore, to keep on that belonging to the dark suit.

" I tested the reality of the vision by this dark suit I asked,

1 See Nos. 37, 38, 39, Chapter V.

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS. 245

'How was I dressed? 1 (not at all a leading question). The
reply of Miss G. was, touching the sleeve of the coat I was then
wearing (of a light suit), * Not this coat, but that dark suit you
wear sometimes. I even saw clearly the small check pattern of
it ; and I saw your features as plainly as though you had been
bodily present. I could not have seen you more distinctly."'

Miss G/s account is:

"Junertth, 1890.

"A peculiar occurrence happened to me on the Wednesday
of the week before last. In the afternoon (being tired by a
morning walk), while sitting in an easy-chair near the window
of my own loom, I fell asleep. At any time I happen to sleep
during the day (which is but seldom) I invariably awake with
tired, uncomfortable sensations, which take some little time to
pass off; but that afternoon, on the contrary, I was suddenly
quite wide awake, seeing Mr. Kirk standing near my chair,
dressed in a dark brown coat, which I had frequently seen him
wear. His back was towards the window, his right hand
towards me ; he passed across the room towards the door,
which is opposite the window, the space between being 15 feet,
the furniture so arranged as to leave just that centre clear; but
when he got about 4 feet from the door, which was closed, he
disappeared.

" I feel sure I had not been dreaming of him, and cannot
remember that anything had happened to cause me even to
think of him that afternoon before falling asleep."

Mr. Kirk writes later:

" I have only succeeded once in making myself visible to
Miss G. since the occasion I have already reported, and that
had the singularity of being only my features my face in
miniature^ that is, about three inches in diameter."

In a letter dated January igth, 1891, Mr. Kirk
says as to this last appearance:

" Miss G. did not record this at the time, as she attached no
importance to it, but I noted the date (July 23rd) on my office
blotting-pad, as it was at the office I was thinking of her. I say
* thinking,' because I was doing so in connection with another
subject, and with no purpose of making an experiment. I had
a headache, and was resting my head on my left hand.
Suddenly it occurred to me that my thinking about her might
probably influence her In some way, and I made the note I
have mentioned."

246 APJ>ARtf IONS AND THOUGtif-TRANSFfekfcNCfc.

Mr. Kirk enclosed in his statement to us the piece
of blotting-paper on which the note of the second
successful experiment had been made. The fact
that the hallucination in the first case included a
representation of the clothes actually worn by the
agent at the time may have been a mere coincidence.
But the case should be borne in mind in considering
the possibility of heteroplastic hallucination.

247

CHAPTER XI.

SPONTANEOUS TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS.

IN the last chapter we gave illustrations of telepathic
hallucinations induced by an act of voluntary concen-
tration on the part of the agent. The hallucinatory
effects now to be described were produced without
design, and in some cases, it would appear, without
the conscious direction of the agent's thoughts to the
person affected. They purport, in fact, to have been
the spontaneous outcome of some emotional stress
on the part of the person whom the hallucination
represented.

Auditory Hallucinations.

We will begin by quoting two examples of auditory
hallucination.

No. 68. From Miss C. CLARK.

" 1889.

" I heard some one sobbing one evening last August (1888)
about 10 P.M. It was in the house in Dunbar, Scotland, as I
was preparing to go to bed. Feeling convinced that it was my
youngest sister, I advised another sister not to go into the next
room, whence the sounds seemed to proceed. After waiting
with me a few minutes this sister went into the dining-room,
and returned to me saying that our youngest sister was in the
dining-room, and not crying at all. Then I at once thought
there must be something the matter with my greatest friend, a
girl of twenty-four, then in Lincolnshire. I wrote to her next
day, asking her if, and at what hour on the previous night, she
had been crying. In* her next letter she said, 'Yes, she was

248 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

suffering great pain with toothache just at the time, and was
unable to restrain a few sobs.' . . . This has been the only
similar experience I have had."

I have seen the letter referred to, together with
three others, extracts from which are given below.
It will be seen that Miss Clark was mistaken in
supposing that she wrote next day. The letter was
actually begun three days after on the Wednes-
day and completed on the subsequent day, after
the receipt of Miss Maughan's letter written on the
Tuesday evening. In view, however, of the fact
that Miss Clark wrote of her impression before the
receipt of her friend's letter, the mistake seems not
material.

From Miss CLARK.

" DUNBAR,

"Wednesday, August iind, 1888, 9 P.M.
"Were you crying on Sunday night near eleven o'clock?
Because I distinctly heard some one crying, and supposed it
was H. in the next room, but she was not there at all.

"Then I thought it must be something 'occult,' and that it
might be you, and I felt so horrid."

" Thursday, August 2$rct, 1888, 4.45 P.M.
" Thank you very much for your letter just come. I am so
sorry your face was sore. Did it make you cry on Sunday
night?"

From Miss MAUGHAN.

(The cover of this letter has been preserved, and
bears the postmark, " Spilsby, Aug. 22nd, 1888.")

"Tuesday Evening, Aug. 2ist y 1888.

" On Sunday we went to see Wroxham Broad. We had an
immense amount of walking to do altogether, and I think I got
a little cold in my face in the morning, and all night I suffered
with it, and my face is swelled still."

In a second letter Miss Maughan writes :

" Thursday, August 2$rd, 1 1 P.M.

" I am putting poultices on my gums. I have never had such
a huge swelling before, and it won't go down. It is so horribly
uncomfortable."

SPONTANEOUS HALLUCINATIONS.

" Saturday Afternoon.

" Thanks for letter. Yes, I was crying on Sunday night ;
only on account of the pain. It was awful, but I only cried
quietly, as Edith was asleep. . . ."

From Miss CLARK.

" Monday, August 2jth, 1888, 10.30 A.M.
" Thanks for your letter. I am sorry it was you crying. You
don't seem at all struck. I was very much so. It was a sub-
dued sort (sic) I heard, and thought H. was trying not to let it
be heard. I shall always be afraid now of hearing things."

The sound here was of an inarticulate kind, nor was
it immediately referred to the actual agent, and both
these facts must be held to detract from the evidential
value of the coincidence. In the next case, however,
the voice, it will be seen, was at once recognised.
The voice in this case awoke the percipient, and the
impression should therefore be classed as a hallucina-
tion rather than as a dream, but it was of the " border-
land " type. The uneasiness caused to the percipient,
as attested by the letter and telegram sent, is sufficient
proof that the impression was of a kind unusual in his
experience.

No. 69. From MR. WILLIAM TUDOR.

"AUBURNDALE,

"Your favour 1 of the 3oth ult, addressed to Mrs. Tudor, I
will answer, as the incident more directly concerned me.

" Late in the evening of Monday, March I7th, near midnight,
my nephew, Frederic Tudor, Jun., fell in front of an electric car
going to Cambridge, was dragged some distance and so badly
injured that for a time his life was in doubt, though he recovered
with the loss of a foot. My wife heard of the accident on
Tuesday afternoon and was much distressed all the night of
Tuesday, and quite restless and wakeful.

"At this time I was in Gainesville, Florida, having im-
portant business there in connection with land purchases.
On the night of Tuesday I went to bed rather early in a calm

1 Mr. Tudor wrote to Dr. 'Hodgson in answer to a letter received
from him.

250 AtPARItlONS Attb THOCGHt-TRANSFERENCE.

state of mind. I slept soundly, as I usually do. About mid-
night, as I should judge, I heard my wife call my name quite
distinctly and waked instantly broad awake. I sat up in bed,
but soon remembering where I was, fell asleep again and waked
no more until morning. The next day the incident of the night
made me quite uneasy, also during the following day, and as I
was obliged to leave on the afternoon of Friday for a rough
journey in the country I telegraphed to my wife to know what
was the matter. I usually receive a letter from home every day,
and on these days no letter arrived, which added to my un-
easiness. No answer was received to my first telegram, for the
very good reason that it was never delivered. I was obliged to
start, however, in the afternoon of this day, Friday the 2ist,
and in the morning of the 22nd, from a small town called New
Branford, sent another telegram, of which the following is the
substance: 'Shall be gone three days; what has happened?
Answer Branford.' I had a strong impression that something
serious had occurred, that my wife was possibly ill, or some of
the children were ill, or that some accident or death had
occurred to a near relation, not however involving my immediate
family. The following extracts from my letters will illustrate
this feeling :

" Letter of March I9th :

" ' I thought you called me last night. I waked up and was
much worried ; I hope you are not ill.'

" Letter of March 22nd, from New Branford :

" ' No answer comes to my telegram, although I left word to
have it forwarded here. Surely some one would telegraph if
you were ill. Surely you would let me know if anything had
happened. I do not feel that anything serious has happened,
and yet I cannot understand such a combination of circum-
stances. I have no confidence in these telegraph people, and
daresay you never received my message.'

" Letter of March 24th, from Gainesville, after telegram giving
account of accident was finally received :

" * I had a feeling that something was wrong but that you were
all right.'

" Such I give as the substance of the facts in this case, which
I trust may be interesting to the Society.

"WILLIAM TUDOR."

Mrs. W. Tudor writes :

" AUBURNDALE,/^/;/ 29^, 1890.

" My nephew's accident occurred on Monday night. Being
out of town I heard of it on Tuesday afternoon. I immediately
went to Boston and returned the sa^ne evening about nine
o'clock, feeling greatly distressed. I wrote a letter to my

SPONTANEOUS HALLUCINATIONS.

husband after my return describing the accident and retired to
bed rather late and passed a restless night The telegram
received from my husband rather surprised me, as he is not
usually anxious when away from home. I believe this is all I
know connected with this incident. ELIZABETH TUDOR."

An account of a similar experience was sent to us
in 1889 by the late Sir John Drummond Hay, K.C.B.
He wrote that about I A.M. on some day in February
1879 he heard distinctly the voice of his daughter-in-
law saying, " Oh, I wish papa only knew that Robert
was ill." Sir John awoke Lady Drummond Hay to
tell her what he had heard, and made a note of the
incident in his diary. It was shortly ascertained that
Mr. R. D. Hay had been taken seriously ill on that
night, and that Mrs. Hay had used the words heard.
Sir John's account is confirmed by Lady Hay and
Mrs. R. D. Hay.

Visual Hallucinations.

The comparative frequency of auditory hallucin-
ations, and especially the ease with which auditory
illusions can be built up on a basis of real sound,
render coincidences of the kind, even the best
attested, of less service to support, however valu-
able as illustrating, the theory of telepathy. Visual
hallucinations, however, present us with a much rarer
type of impression, and one in which explanation by
illusion is comparatively seldom possible. Telepathic
hallucinations, like ordinary non-coincidental hallucin-
ations, may assume various forms, and instances of
grotesque and partially developed visual impressions
are not wanting. Thus we have a case in which
the face of a dying relative was recognised in the
middle of a large ball of light like a firework (Journal,
October 1891); and Mr. Sherer, of Amble, North-
umberland, tells us that he saw reflected in a ship's
compass the face of ,a young lady to whom he was
engaged, at about the time of her death. In the

At>i>ARlftONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

following case the hallucination, though still far from
complete, appears to have been more realistic and
more fully developed.

No. 70. From COUNTESS EUGENIE KAPNIST.

[Writing on June 24th, 1 891, the percipient explains that in Feb-
ruary 1 889 she and her sister made the acquaintance at Talta of a
Mr. P., who was at that time in an advanced stage of consumption.
On one occasion, in the course of conversation, Mr. P. promised
Countess Ina Kapnist, in the presence of the narrator, that
should he die before her he would endeavour to appear to her.
The Countess and her sister met Mr. P. occasionally after this
conversation, and frequently saw him walking about in a nut-
brown overcoat, which caused them some amusement. They
left Talta, however, in May 1889, and in the course of a few
months had completely forgotten Mr. P. and his wife, whom
they regarded merely in the light of ordinary acquaintances.
On the 1 2th March 1890 the two ladies, on their way home
from the theatre, drove to the railway station with a friend who
was to return at i A.M. to Tsarskoe'.]

" On leaving the station,'' the Countess writes, "our servant
went on before to find the carriage, so that on reaching the steps
we found it had driven up and was waiting for us. My sister
was the first to take her seat; I kept her waiting, as I descended
the steps more slowly ; the servant held the door of the landau
open. With one foot on the step I suddenly stood still, arrested
in the act of entering the carriage, and stunned with surprise.
It was dark inside the carriage, and nevertheless, facing my
sister and looking at her, I saw in a faint grey light which
seemed unnatural, and which was clearest at the point on which
my eyes were fixed, a face in profile, not so much vague as soft
and transparent. This vision only lasted an instant, during
which, however, my eyes noted the smallest details of the face,
which seemed familiar to me; the rather sharp features, the
hair parted a little on one side, the prominent nose, the sharp
chin with its sparse, light brown beard. What strikes me
when I think of it now is the fact that I could distinguish the
different colours, though the greyish light which scarcely
revealed the stranger would have been insufficient to enable
me to distinguish them in ordinary circumstances. He had no
hat, but wore a top-coat, such as is worn in the South, in colour
a rather light nut-brown. His whole person had an air of great
weariness and emaciation. The servant, much surprised that
I did not enter the carriage but remained petrified on the step,
thought I had trodden on my gown, and helped me to seat

SPONTANEOUS HALLUCINATIONS.

myself, while I asked my sister, as I took my place beside her, if
it was really our carnage, so much was I confused and stupefied
by seeing a stranger seated opposite her. It had not occurred
to me that if a real person had been sitting there, neither my
sister nor the footman would have remained so quietly face to
face with him. When I was seated I no longer saw anything,
and I asked my sister, 'Did you see nothing opposite you?'
* Nothing whatever, and what possessed you to ask as you got
in if it was really our carriage ? ; she answered laughing. Then
I told her what I have related above, describing my vision
minutely. 'That familiar face, 3 said she, 'the hair parted at
the side, the nut-brown coat, where have we seen it ? Certainly
nothing here answers to your description/ and we racked our
brains without finding any clue. After we got home we related
the incident to our mother ; my description made her also re-
member vaguely a similar face. The next evening (March I2th)
a young man of our acquaintance, Mr. Solovovo, came to see us.
I told him also what had just occurred. We discussed it at
some length, but fruitlessly. I still could not find the right
name for the man of my vision, though I remembered quite
well having seen a face exactly similar among my numerous
acquaintances, but when and where ? I could remember
nothing, with my bad memory, which often fails me in this
fashion. Some days later we were calling on Mr. Solovovo's
grandmother. 'Do you know/ she said, 'what sad news I
have just received from Talta? Mr. P. has just died, but I
have heard no details.' My sister and I looked at each other.
At the mention of this name the pointed face and the nut-brown
top-coat found their possessor. My sister recognised him at
the same time as myself, thanks to my minute description.
When Mr, Solovovo entered I begged him to find the exact
date of the death in the newspapers. The date of the death
was given as the I4th of March, that is to say two days after
my vision. I wrote to Talta for information, and learned that
Mr. P. was confined to bed from the 24th November, and that
from that time he was in a very feeble state, but sleep never left
him. He slept so long and so profoundly, even during the last
night of his life, that hopes were entertained of his improve-
ment.

"We were much astonished that it was I who saw Mr. P.,
although he had promised to appear to my sister ; but here I
ought to add that before the occurrence mentioned above I
had been clairvoyante a certain number of times ; but this
vision is certainly the one in which I distinguished details
most clearly, even down to the colours of the face and
dress.

* "COMTESSE EUGENIE KAPNIST.
COMTESSE INA KAPNIST."

254 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

The second signature is that of the sister who was
present at the time. The account above given, it
should be explained, is a translation from the original
French.

Our friend, Mr. Petrovo-Solovovo, through whom
we obtained the account, writes :

" I have much pleasure in certifying that the fact of Countess
Kapnist's vision was mentioned, among others, to myself before
the news of Mr. P.'s death came to St. Petersburg. I well
remember seeing an announcement of his demise in the
papers."

The narrative presents several points of interest.
The deferred recognition is by no means without
parallel (see case 68 and cases 26, 191, etc., in
Phantasms), but in this case the interval which elapsed
before the identification of the phantasm was unusu-
ally prolonged. Of course the fact that the vision
was not identified beforehand is an element of weak-
ness in the case, but as the deep impression left on
the percipient by her vision seems well established,
we have some warrant for assuming that the details
have been accurately remembered. And if we may
accept these details the case throws light upon the
genesis of such hallucinations. That a dying man,
whilst failing to impress the idea of his own person-
ality upon the mind of a distant acquaintance, should
succeed in calling up the image to himself of quite
secondary importance of the clothes which he
habitually wore, would seem at first sight a paradox.
But the difficulty disappears if we recognise that
the telepathic impression in such cases is probably
received and the hallucination elaborated by a sub-
conscious stratum of the intelligence, and that the
picture is in due time flashed up thence fully formed
to the ordinary consciousness. The image of the
clothes worn by the agent, trivial and unessential to
himself, would not improbably bulk more largely in
the conception formed of him by an acquaintance,

SPONTANEOUS HALLUCINATIONS. 25 J

and might even find an echo in the percipient's
consciousness when the image of the man himself
had been obliterated by more recent memories. It
i-s possible that the arrested development of the
hallucination may have some connection with the
imperfect recognition.

In the following case also the hallucination, though
recognised, appears to have fallen short of complete
embodiment

No. 71. From MlSS L. CALDECOTT.

"February u/>&, 1890.

" A sensation of faint glowing light in the darkest corner of
the room made me first look in that direction (which happened
to be next the door), and I then became aware of some one
standing there, holding her hands outstretched as if in appeal.
My first impression was that it was my sister, and I said,
' What's the matter? -'but instantly saw who it was a friend,
who was at that time in Scotland. I felt completely riveted,
but though my heart and pulses were beating unnaturally fast,
neither much frightened nor surprised, only with a sort of
impulse to get up and go after the figure, which I could not
move to do. The form seemed to melt away into the soft glow,
which then also died out It was about half-past ten at night.

I was at my home in . The date I am unable to fix nearer

than that it was either August or September 1887.

" I was perfectly well. I was reading Carlyle's Sartor
Resartus at the time. I was in no trouble or anxiety of any
kind. Age about twenty-six.

" I had not seen my friend for about a year. I wrote to her
the day after this happened, but, before my letter reached her,
received one in which she told me of a great family trouble that
was causing her much suffering, and saying that she had been
longing for me to help her. Another letter in answer to mine
then told me that her previous letter was written about 10.30
on the night I saw her, and that she had been wishing for my
presence then most intensely. My friend died very shortly
afterwards.

" No other persons were present at the time."

One of the agent's letters, written in reply to a
letter from Miss CaWecott describing the apparition,
has fortunately been preserved. The letter is dated

2$6 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

August i6th, 1888. The following extracts were
written down by Mrs. Sidgwick from Miss Caldecott's
dictation :

" ' Your account is very strange, and I cannot quite make up
my mind what to think of it. If it had not been that on that
very Tuesday night I really was thinking of you very much, and
wishing from the bottom of my heart that I could get at you, I
should be inclined to say that your apparition was entirely
subjective, and that you imagined you saw me. But if there is
any connection between mind and mind, why should it not be
so, and that it really was because I was wishing so hard I could
be with you. You know that was the night I got back. I
unpacked some of my things, and then began to write to you.
It was then somewhere between eleven and twelve. At all
events, I remember it struck twelve some time after I got into
bed. . . . Tell me anything you can of my general appearance,
and so forth. If you saw me as I was at the time it seems
fairly conclusive it was my thinking of you caused you to see
me, and not indigestion on your part, and entirely independent
of me.'"

In conversation Mrs. Sidgwick learnt that the face
and hands of the figure were seen most clearly. The
hands appeared as if held out, palms upward. The
dress was "rather indefinite. She looked as Miss
Caldecott was accustomed to see her, but Miss
Caldecott did not notice the dress particularly, and
did not see the figure clearly at all below the knees."
Miss Caldecott has had a visual hallucination on two
other occasions, when she was in bed recovering from
an illness. At the time of the vision above described
she was in perfect health. It will be observed that
the phantasm developed gradually, the percipient's
attention having been first arrested by noticing the
glow in the corner of the room. (Compare No. 84,
Chapter XII., and the cases given in Phantasms of
the Living, vol. i., chap, xii.) It will be seen that the
percipient's recollection was at fault, both as to the
date and the hour of the incident. But a discrepancy
of this kind cannot be regarded as serious. Persons
whose lives are not marked off ^-., by changes of resi-
dence or occupation into distinct periods, frequently

SPONTANEOUS HALLUCINATIONS. 257

experience a difficulty in assigning to the right year
even an event of importance. But in this case the
incident in itself was trivial, and there was no land-
mark by which to determine its relation, in point of
time, to external events. A mistake in the date
under such circumstances can scarcely be held to
reflect upon the narrator's general accuracy.

In the next case also the apparition was pre-
ceded and accompanied by a luminous effect. In
this instance, however, the percipient appears to
have been in bed, and the hallucination should
be classed as a "borderland" case. It will be seen
that the apparition preceded the actual death by
several hours, but apparently coincided with a period
of severe illness

No. 72. From DR. CARAT. 1

"25 bl3 RUE VICTOR-HUGO, MALAKOFF,
PARIS, July zot/t, 1891.

" My mother, from the time she was twenty-five years old,
had suffered from an affection of the lungs, but she had kept her
health, although she had gone through many troubles. There
was nothing to indicate what happened on the nth June 1877
she succumbed in a few hours to an attack of inflammation
of the lungs ; indeed, I had two days before that date received
a letter from her in which she showed no anxiety about her
health.

" On the night of the loth June 1877 I had what might be
called a telepathic hallucination. I cannot state the hour with
absolute precision, but it was between ten o'clock and mid-
night. About that time, * between sleeping and waking,' I saw
the end of my room lighted up, the darkness was illuminated by
a silvery light (it is the only word I can think of), and I saw my
mother gazing fixedly at me, with a sort of troubled expression.
After a few seconds it all disappeared.

" Next day one of my friends M. Laroche, now sub-director
of the Conservateur Co., 18 Rue Lafayette was breakfasting
with me. I told him about my experience, and he too regarded
it as a hallucination. At parting I said to him, * Remember,
Laroche, if anything happens, that I have told you this to-day.'

1 Annales des Sciences Psychtques, July- August 1893, pp. 196, 197.

17

258 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

" Next clay I received news of my mother's death.
" I have never on any other occasion experienced a hallucina-
tion, or anything approaching to it."

From M. LAROCHE.
[To PROFESSOR RICHET.]

" SIR, After an absence from home I have just returned and
found awaiting me the letter which you did me the honour to
write on the 7th inst, on the subject of a vision which my friend
Dr. Carat had on the eve of his mother's death, at a time when
he believed her to be in good health at Dunkirk. The circum-
stance was told me by Dr. Carat immediately after it occurred.
You can make any use of my testimony you think fit.

" LAROCHE."

From the last case we pass, by an easy transition,
to those completely externalised apparitions which
cheat the senses by the life-like presentment of a
human figure.

No. 73. From Miss BERTA HURLY, Waterbeach
Vicarage, Cambridge.

"February 1890.

" In the spring and summer of 1886 I often visited a poor
woman called Evans, who lived in our parish, Caynham. She
was very ill with a painful disease, and it was, as she said, a
great pleasure when I went to see her; and I frequently sat
with her and read to her. Towards the middle of October she
was evidently growing weaker, but there seemed no immediate
danger. I had not called on her for several days, and one even-
ing I was standing in the dining-room after dinner with the rest
of the family, when I saw the figure of a woman dressed like
Mrs. Evans, in large apron and muslin cap, pass across the
room from one door to the other, where she disappeared. I
said, 'Who is that?' My mother said, 'What do you mean?'
and I said, 'That woman who has just come in and walked
over to the other door.' They all laughed at me, and said I
was dreaming, but I felt sure it was Mrs. Evans, and next
morning we heard she was dead.

"BERTA HURLY."

Miss Hurly's mother writes :

"On referring to my diary for the month of October 1886,
I find the following entry : ' I9th. Berta startled us all after

SPONTANEOUS HALLUCINATIONS.

dinner, about 8.30 last evening, by saying she saw the figure of
a woman pass across the dining-room, and that it was Mrs.
Evans. This morning we hear the poor woman is dead.' On
inquiring at the cottage we found she had become wandering
in her mind, and at times unconscious, about the time she
appeared to Berta, and died towards the morning.

"ANNIE Ross.
" February 25^, 1890."

In this case the apparition, it will have been
observed, was mistaken for a real person. We
should not be justified, however, in concluding that
the sensory effect produced was comparable in
intensity to that which would have been caused
had a real figure walked across the room. Percep-
tion is so largely a psychical process that it is difficult
in any particular case to assign a definite value to the
sensory element. And in a case of this kind, where,
as appears to be generally the case with telepathic
hallucinations, the vision is of brief duration, the
difficulty is, of course, increased.

The hallucination in this, as in the previous case,
occurred some hours before the death, and the
evidential value of the coincidence is so far lessened.
But it is perhaps worth while pointing out that we
have no warrant in theory for concluding that in
a case of death after prolonged illness the actual
moment of dissolution is more favourable for the
initiation of a telepathic impulse than any moment
in the hours or days of illness preceding death ; nor,
if due allowance be made for the tendency to exag-
gerate the closeness of coincidence, is it clear that
there is sufficient evidence at present to support any
such conclusion. On the other hand, in cases of
accident or momentary illness, we have more than
one case where the impression is shown, on good
evidence, to have occurred within, at most, an hour
of death. 1 In the narrative which follows, the vision,
it will be seen, took place some days before the actual

? See, for instance, Phantasms of the Living, cases 28, 79, etc.

260 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

death, during the crisis of a serious illness, of which
the percipient was not at the time aware.

No. 74, From MRS. McALPiNE, Garscadden,
Bearsden, Glasgow.

The following account was enclosed in a letter,
dated April I2th, 1892. We had previously received
a somewhat briefer account, dated May /th, 1891,
which agrees in all essential particulars with the one
printed below:

"On the 25th March 1891 my husband and I were staying at
Furness Abbey Hotel, Barrow-in-Furness, with a friend of ours,
the late Mr. A. D. Bryce Douglas, of Seafield Tower, Ardrossan.
He was managing director of the * Naval Construction Arma-
ment Company,' and had resided at Furness Abbey Hotel for
some eighteen months or more. He had invited us, along with
a number of other friends, to the launch of the Empress of
China. We breakfasted with Mr. Bryce Douglas on the day
of the launch, the 25th, and afterwards saw the launch, had
luncheon at the shipyard, and returned to the hotel. He
appeared to be in his usual health and spirits (he was a power-
fully-built man, and justly proud of his fine constitution). The
following day (Thursday) he left with a party of gentlemen, to
sail from Liverpool to Ardrossan, on the trial trip of the Empress
of Japan (another large steamer which had been built at his
yard).

" We remained on at the hotel for some days with our son
Bob, aged twenty-three, who was staying there, superintending
work which Mr. Me Alpine was carrying on at Barrow.

u On the Monday night, the 3oth, I went upstairs after dinner.
On my way down again I saw Mr. Bryce Douglas Standing in
the doorway of his sitting-room. I saw him quite distinctly.
He looked at me with a sad expression. He was wearing a cap
which I had never seen him wear. I walked on and left him
standing there. It was then about ten minutes to eight. I told
my husband and Bob. We all felt alarmed, and we immediately
sent the following telegram, 'How is Mr. Bryce Douglas?' to
Miss Caldwell, his sister-in-law, who kept house for him at
Seafield. It was too late for a reply that night. On Tuesday
morning we received a wire from her; it ran thus: 'Mr. Bryce
Douglas dangerously ill.' That telegram was the first intimation
of his illness which reached Barrow. As will be seen in the
account of his illness and death in the Barrow News> he died

SPONTANEOUS HALLUCINATIONS. 26 1

on the following Sunday, and we afterwards ascertained from
Miss Caldwell that he was unconscious on Monday evening, at
the time I saw him.

" My husband and son can corroborate this, and I have also
letters which bear out my statements."

Mrs. Me Alpine enclosed a copy of the Barrow
News for April nth, 1891, containing a memoir of
Mr. Bryce Douglas, and a full account of his last
illness and death. It appears from this account that
he left Barrow on Thursday, March 26th, to join the
steamer Empress of Japan, He was noticed by his
friends to be far from well on Wednesday, the previous
day, on the occasion of the launch of the Empress of
China, and was advised to go home. He did not do
so, however, until the Sunday, when he was put ashore
at Ardrossan, and walked home to Seafield a distance
of nearly two miles. His medical man was sent for
the same day, and the case was considered serious
from the first, and on the following Thursday the
doctors pronounced it hopeless. He died on April
5th, at about 5 A.M.

From the evidence which follows it seems clear that
if any anxiety as to his health was felt before he left
Barrow, as suggested in the newspaper report, Mrs.
McAlpine knew nothing of it.

Mr, Myers writes:

" I discussed the incident connected with the death of Mr.
Bryce Douglas with Mr. and Mrs. McAlpine and Mr. McAlpine,
Jun., on February 24th, 1892. I believe that their evidence has
been very carefully given. Mr. McAlpine knew Mr. Bryce
Douglas intimately. Mr. Bryce Douglas was a robust and*
vigorous man, and disliked ever to be supposed to be ill. Mr.
McAlpine therefore felt great unwillingness to telegraph to him
about his health, but from his previous knowledge of phenomena
occurring to Mrs. McAlpine, he felt sure that her vision must be
in some sense veridical."

Mrs. McAlptne'g husband and his son corroborate
as follows:

262 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

"April 1892.

"I was at Barrow on the 25th of March of last year (1891),
and distinctly remember the incident of the following Monday
night. I can bear testimony to the statements made by my
wife and son.

"ROBERT MCALPINE."

"GARSCADDEN HOUSE, April ^th^ 1892.
" I was living for several months in the Furness Abbey Hotel,
at Barrow-in-Furness, and I remember father and mother coming
for a few days in order to see the launch of the Empress of
China on the 25th of March 1891, and on the following day
(Thursday) Mr. Bryce Douglas (who was then in his usual
health) left with a party of friends on the trial trip of the
Empress of Japan. I also distinctly remember that the follow-
ing Monday night (3oth) my father and I were sitting at the
drawing-room fire after dinner, and mother came in looking
very pale and startled, and said she had been upstairs and had
seen Mr. Bryce Douglas standing at the door of his sitting-room
(he had used this sitting-room for nearly two years). Both my
father and I felt anxious, and after some discussion we sent a
telegram to Mr. Bryce Douglas's residence at Ardrossan asking
how he was, and the following morning had the reply, ' Keeping
better, but not out of danger,' or words to that effect. I can
assert positively that no one in Barrow knew of his illness until
after the receipt of that telegram.

" ROBERT MCALPINE, JUN."

Letters corroborating the above account have also
been received from Miss Caldwell, sister-in-law to
Mr. Bryce Douglas, to whom the telegram was sent,
and who writes : " I was very much surprised . at
receiving it ; " from Mrs. Scarlett, the wife of the
proprietor of the Furness Abbey Hotel, and from
Miss Charlton, of Barrow-in-Furness, both of whom
yvere cognisant of the circumstances at the time. 1

Mrs. McAlpine has had several other apparently
telepathic experiences, one of them a vision coinciding
with the death of the infant child of her brother.

In the next case the vision occurred about two
hours after the actual death.

1 These letters will be found in full in the account of the case pub-
lished in Proc* &P.1\., vol. x., part xxvi.

SPONTANEOUS HALLUCINATIONS. 263

No. 75. From Miss MABEL GORE BOOTH.

"LISSADELL, SLIGO, February 1891.

"On the loth of April 1889, at about half-past nine o'clock
A.M., my youngest brother and I were going down a short flight
of stairs leading to the kitchen, to fetch food for my chickens,
as usual. We were about half-way down, my brother a few
steps in advance of me, when he suddenly said, * Why, there's
John Blaney ; I didn't know he was in the house V John
Blaney was a boy who lived not far from us, and he had been
employed in the house as hall-boy not long before. I said that
I was sure it was not he (for I knew he had left some months
previously on account of ill-health), and looked down into the
passage, but saw no one. The passage was a long one, with a
rather sharp turn in it, so we ran quickly down the last few
steps and looked round the corner, but nobody was there, and
the only door he could have gone through was shut. As we
went upstairs my brother said, * How pale and ill John looked,
and why did he stare so?' I asked what he was doing. My
brother answered that he had his sleeves turned up, and was
wearing a large green apron, such as the footmen always wear
at their work. An hour or two afterwards I asked my maid
how long John Blaney had been back in the house? She
seemed much surprised, and said, ' Didn't you hear, miss, that
he died this morning?' On inquiry we found he had died
about two hours before my brother saw him. My mother did
not wish that my brother should be told this, but he heard of it
somehow, and at once declared that he must have seen his
ghost.

"MABEL OLIVE GORE BOOTH."

The percipient's independent account is as
follows :

"March 1891.

" We were going downstairs to get food for Mabel's fowl,
when I saw John Blaney walking round the corner. I said to
Mabel, * That's John Blaney 1 ' but she could not see him.
When we came up afterwards we found he was dead. He
seemed to me to look rather ill. He looked yellow ; his eyes
looked hollow, and he had a green apron on.

"MORDAUNT GORE BOOTH."

We have received the following confirmation of the

date of death :

" I certify from the parish register of deaths that John Blaney

264 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

(Dunfore) was interred on the I2th day of April 1889, having
died on the loth day of April 1889.

"P. J. SHEMAGHS, C.C.
"The Presbytery, Ballingal, Sligo,
" loth February 1891."

Mr. Myers originally received an account of the
incident viva voce from Lady Gore Booth, and sub-
sequently at his request the percipient and his sister,
aged at the time ten and fifteen respectively, wrote
the accounts given above.

Lady Gore Booth writes :

"May 3ij/, 1890.

" When my little boy came upstairs and told us he had seen
John Blancy, we thought nothing of it till some hours after,
when we heard that he was dead. Then, for fear of frightening
the children, I avoided any allusion to what he had told us, and
asked every one else to do the same. Probably by now he has
forgotten all about it, but it certainly was very remarkable,
especially as only one child saw him, and they were standing
together. The place where he seems to have appeared was in
the passage outside the pantry door, where John Blaney's work
always took him. My boy is a very matter-of-fact sort of boy,
and I never heard of his having any other hallucination."

^ The interval in this case between the death and the
vision may probably be explained as due to the
telepathic influence received from the dying boy
having remained latent in the percipient's mind,
awaiting a favourable opportunity for emerging to
consciousness. But it seems possible that the mes-
sage may have come, not from the dying boy, but
from some member of the household who was aware
of the death. It is to be noted that Miss Gore Booth
did not share her brother's experience.

Hallucinations Affecting Two Senses.

So far 1 we have dealt with hallucinations of one
sense only. In the next two cases, it will be seen,
both sight and hearing appear to Have been affected.

SPONTANEOUS HALLUCINATIONS. 265

No. 76. From the REV. MATTHEW FROST.

" BOWERS GlFFORD, ESSEX, January 30^, 1891.
"The first Thursday in April 1881, while sitting at tea with
my back to the window and talking with my wife in the usual
way, I plainly heard a rap at the window, and looking round I
said to my wife, * Why, there's my grandmother,' and went to
the door, but could not see any one ; and still feeling sure it was
my grandmother, and knowing, though eighty-three years of age,
she was very active and fond of a joke, I went round the house,
but could not see any one. My wife did not hear it. On the
following Saturday I had news my grandmother died in York-
shire about half-an-hour before the time I heard the rapping.
The last time I saw her alive I promised, if well, I would
attend her funeral ; that [was] some two years before. I was in
good health [and] had no trouble, [age] twenty-six years, I
did not know that my grandmother was ill."

Mrs. Frost writes :

"January 30^, 1891.

" I beg to certify that I perfectly remember all the circum-
stances my husband has named, but I heard and saw nothing
myself."

The house (seen by Mrs. Sidgwick) in which Mr.
Frost was living when the event occurred stands some
way back from the road in a garden, and the door
into the garden opens out of the sitting-room, so that
he must have got to the door much too quickly, if he
went at once, for any one to have got away unseen by
him.

Professor Sidgwick called on Mr. Frost in June
1892, and learned from him that he had last seen
his grandmother in 1878, on which occasion she had
promised, if possible, to appear to him at her death.
On first seeing the figure Mr. Frost thought that his
grandmother had actually come in the flesh to surprise
him. It was full daylight, and had there been a real
knock and a real presence Mrs. Frost must have both
heard and seen. Mr. Frost had no cause for anxiety
about his grandmother, and has had no other experi-
ence of this kind. News of the death came by letter,

266 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

and Mrs. Frost remembers the letter, and that she
noticed the coincidence at the time. .

In the next case the order of perception is
reversed ; the visual preceded the auditory image.
The narrative was procured for us by M. Aksakof,
of 6 Nevsky Prospect, St. Petersburg, who also
translated the original Russian into French, from
which we have translated it into English.

No. 77. From M. A .

" It was at Milan, on the loth (22nd) of October 1888. I
was staying at the Hotel Ancora. After dinner, at about seven
o'clock, I was seated on the sofa, reading a newspaper. My
wife was resting in the same room on a couch, behind a curtain.
The room was lighted by a lamp upon the table near which I
was sitting reading. Suddenly I saw against the back-ground
of the door, which was opposite me, my father's face. He wore
as usual a black surtout, and was deadly pale. At that moment
I heard quite close to my ear a voice which said to me, ' A
telegram is coming to say your father is dead.' All this only
took a few seconds. I started up and rushed towards my wife,
but not to startle her I said nothing to her about it. To explain
my sudden movement I exclaimed ' Look, do you not see that
the kettle is boiling over ! ' . . . On the evening of the same
clay, about eleven o'clock, we were taking tea in the company
of several other people, among whom were Madame Y., her
daughter E. Y., formerly an actress at the Court Theatre, and
Mademoiselle M., who is now living in Florence. All at once

telegram <

these words, ' Papa dead suddenly. Olga.' It was a telegram
from my sister living at St. Petersburg. I learned later that my
father had committed suicide on the morning of the same day.

"(Signed) E. A."
Madame A. writes:

" I was present at the time, and I testify to the accuracy of
the account."

M. Aksakof wrote to us th#t he had seen the
original telegram, which ran

SPONTANEOUS HALLUCINATIONS. 267

" Ricevuto il 22, 1 1888. Milano, Petersbourg, data 22, 1 ore e
minute, 8.40. c Papa mort subitement. Olga.' "

Another case, in which the senses affected were
those of touch and hearing, has been given to us
by Mr. Malleson. In 1874 or 1875 he went for a
short sea voyage, taking with him his young son.
On the night of his departure, while in a dreamy,
half-conscious state, he imagined that his son had
fallen overboard, and that he himself was bringing
the sad news to his wife. On his return home he
learned that on that night Mrs. Malleson had been
awakened by feeling some one leaning over her.
She put out her arm and, as she thought, touched
her husband's coat. She had no doubt that it was
her husband's bodily presence, spoke to him, and
heard him answer, " Yes, I have come back." But
on her continuing, " Where is Eddy ? " she received
no reply, and felt much alarmed. There are several
instances recorded of tactile hallucinations accom-
panying visual and auditory phantasms. 2

1 M. Aksakof explains that the name of the month (October) was
omitted, through a mistake on the part of the telegraph clerk.

2 Phantasms of the Living, vol. i. pp. 434-445; vol. ii. p. 134, etc.;
and/Vw. S.P.&, etc.

268

CHAPTER XII.

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS.

WE have now to discuss that numerous class of cases
in which the phantasm was perceived by two or more
persons. The difficulties of interpretation which such
cases present are enhanced for us by the various defects
to which the evidence is here peculiarly liable. Many
so-called cases of collective apparition, especially
when the figure is seen out-of-doors, were probably
real men and women. 1 In others we have to deal
with a collective illusion, a quasi-hallucinatory super-
structure built up by each witness, aided by hints from
the others, on a. common sensory basis. Such, for
instance, appears to us the most probable interpreta-
tion of the following singular case.

From MRS. ALDERSON.

" My son and I were staying in the town of Bonchurch (Isle of
Wight) last Easter vacation (1886). Our lodgings were close
to the sea, and the garden of our house abutted on the beach,
and there were no trees or bushes in it high enough to intercept

1 Thus we have a case, regarded by the narrator as hallucinatory, in
which three persons saw a figure ascending the staircase of a country
rectory. The occurrence took place shortly after the return of the
family from church, and the figure was supposed to be that of the
rector, until it was ascertained that he was at the time in another part
of the house. As, however, it was dark and the head of the figure
could not be seen, the identification could hardly have been complete,
and as no search was made in the upper part of the house, it seems
possible that the figure was that of some person who had gained
entrance to the house during the absence of the family at church.

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS. 269

our view. The evening of Easter Sunday was so fine that when
Miss Jowett (the landlady's daughter) brought in the lamp, I
begged her not to pull down the blinds, and lay on the sofa
looking out at the sea, while my son was reading at the table.
Owing to a letter I had just received from my sister at home,
stating that one of the servants had again seen * the old lady/
my thoughts had been directed towards ghosts and such things.
But I was not a little astonished when, on presently looking out
of the window, I saw the figure of a woman standing at the
edge of the verandah. She appeared to be a broad woman, and
not tall (Mrs. A. is tall), and to wear an old-fashioned bonnet,
and white gloves on her closed hands. As it was dark the
figure was only outlined against the sky, and I could not distin-
guish any other details. It was, however, opaque, and not
in any way transparent, just as if it had been a real person.
I looked at it for some time, and then looked away. When,
after a time, I looked again, the woman's hands had dis-
appeared behind what appeared to be a white marble cross,
with a little bit of the top broken off, and with a railing on one
side of the woman and the cross, such as one sometimes sees
in graveyards.

"After looking at this apparition, which remained motionless,
for some time, about twenty minutes, perhaps, I asked my son
[then an undergiaduate at B.N.C] to come and to look out of the
window, and tell me what he saw. He exclaimed, ' What an
uncanny sight 1 ' and described the woman and the cross exactly
as I saw it. I then rang the bell, and when Miss J. answered
it, I asked her also to look put of the window and tell me what
she saw, and she also described the woman and the cross, just
ns they appeared to my son and myself. Some one suggested
that it might be a reflection of some sort, and we all looked
about the room to see whether there was anything in it that
could cause such a reflection, but came to the conclusion that
there was nothing to account for it."

Mr. Alderson writes:

" Staying at B. (Isle of Wight) during the Easter vacation of
1886, I remember distinctly seeing an apparition in the form of
a woman with her hands clasped on the top of a cross. The
cross looked old and worn, as one sees in churchyards. My
mother drew my attention to the figure, and after we had
watched it for some time we rang the bell and asked the
servant if she saw the figure. She said she did. I then
went out to the verandah (where the figure was), and imme-
diately it vanished. .

" E. H. ALDERSON."

270 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

A corresponding account of the incident has been
received from Miss Jowett, the landlady's daughter.
We owe the accounts of the incident to Mr. F. Schiller,
who investigated the matter for the Oxford Phasma-
tological Society.

The persistency of the vision in this case is a
feature very rarely found in cases of undoubted
hallucination, and the fact that it was only seen
through glass suggests that the whole appearance was
due to a reflection of some kind, although it must be
admitted that this explanation, which was considered
and rejected by the percipients at the time, cannot be
accommodated to the facts without difficulty.

In the epidemics of religious hallucination so
common in the Middle Ages, and still occurring from
time to time in Catholic countries, it would appear
that as a rule there is no objective basis for the
perception. When, as at Knock, in Ireland, a few
years ago, the figure of the Virgin or a Saint is said
to have been seen by a large number of persons
simultaneously, it seems probable that in those who
really saw the figure the hallucination was due to
repeated verbal suggestions acting on minds which,
under the influence of strong emotion, were tem-
porarily in a state analogous to that of trance.
The nearest analogy to such cases is no doubt to be
found in hypnotism. A collective hallucination can
be imposed upon a whole roomful of hypnotised
persons by the mere command of the operator. But
not the most explicit verbal suggestion si vera est
fabula could make the courtiers in the fairy tale see
the king's clothes ; and there is no evidence that with
normal persons in full possession of their ordinary
faculties any hints derivable from look, word, or
gesture could suffice to originate an instantaneous
hallucination. Still, the possibility of such an ex-
planation under certain conditions should perhaps be
kept in view. (See later, Chapter XVI.)

A possible explanation of a different kind has

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS. 27 1

been already illustrated by the story quoted on page
153, where it was shown that a solitary hallucination
had grown in the course of five-and-twenty years into
a collective vision. The narrator in this case was a
child at the time of the alleged experience. Children
and uneducated persons generally, who are not prone
to analyse their own sensations, seem liable after a
certain interval to mistake the image called up by
another's recital for an actual experience of their own;
and this is especially likely to occur when the auditor
was present at the time of the experience or familiar
with the scene of the occurrence. Indeed, most per-
sons who visualise with moderate facility are probably
liable to this form of mistake on a small scale. I had
about five years since an example of this in my own
case. A friend had described to me minutely some
simple apparatus of his own invention. About a year
later he brought the apparatus to London and offered
to show it to me. I replied that I had already seen
it ; but on being confronted with it I found the pro-
portions and general appearance of the actual object
quite unlike my mental image of it. I had in fact
never seen the object, but the image which I had
mentally constructed to enable me to follow my
friend's description a year before remained so vivid
as to lead me to believe that it was founded on actual
sensation. But a sensory hallucination is too strik-
ing and unusual an experience to be readily feigned,
and it is very improbable that the memory of educated
persons, at any rate, would be untrustworthy as
regards their recent experiences of the kind. As
already explained, the accounts of this and other
forms of telepathic affection included in this book
have in almost all cases been written down within
ten years of the event.

When the fullest allowance has been made for all
possible explanations we find a considerable number
of cases remaining o^ which no other account can be
given than that they are apparitions, due to no ascer-

2/2 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

tained cause, which are perceived by two or more
persons simultaneously. That the collective percep-
tion proves the objective, or to use a less ambi-
guous word the material existence of the thing per-
ceived, is probably held now by few persons outside
the ranks of professed mystics. Apart from the
theoretical difficulties of such a hypothesis difficulties
which have by no means been surmounted by the
invocation of fixed ether, intercalary vortex rings,
space of four dimensions, and other subtler forms of
the theory evolved in recent times, it is to be noted
that no facts of any significance have been adduced
to support it. There is at present no trustworthy
evidence that an apparition has ever been weighed
or photographed, 1 or submitted to spectroscopic or
chemical analysis. But, indeed, the theory betrays
its own origin in a prescientific age; and without
formal destruction by argument it has shared in the
euthanasia which has overtaken many other pious
opinions found inadequate to the facts. The pheno-
mena which it professes to explain are paralleled in
all their essential features by other phenomena, for
which even its supporters would hardly be rash enough
to claim substantial reality; and as the phantasms
now to be discussed bear in all points a close
resemblance to those already described as occurring
to solitary percipients, probably no one who accepts
the one class of appearances as hallucinatory will
hesitate to accept the other.

But when the hallucinatory character of collec-
tively-perceived, or, as they may be styled for brevity,
"collective" phantasms is recognised, there are diffi-
culties of interpretation to be dealt with. On the
telepathic hypothesis there are two modes in which a
collective hallucination may be conceived to originate:
(a) it may be communicated direct from a third person
to each of the percipients; or () it may be communi-

1 See the article on Spirit Photographt, by Mrs. Henry Sidgwick,
Proc. S.P.R., vol. vii. pp. 268-289.

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS.

cated by telepathic infection from one percipient to
another. The first explanation involves in most cases,
as Mr. Gurney has pointed out {Phantasms of the
Living, vol. ii. pp. 171, 172), serious theoretical
difficulties. For on the view to which we are led by
a review of all the evidence, a telepathic hallucination,
like any other, is, as a rule, the work of the percipient's
mind, and is not transferred ready made from the
agent. As such it is frequently of slow growth, and
there are grounds for believing that it is sometimes
not externalised for the percipient's senses until some
hours after the receipt of the original telepathic im-
pulse. We should hardly expect, therefore, to find
two percipients independently developing similar
hallucinations, and at the same moment But in most
of the cases of collective hallucination hitherto re-
ported, the hallucinations have been, so far as could
be ascertained, similar and simultaneous, so as indeed
to suggest a real figure rather than a hallucination.
Moreover, in well-attested recent narratives it rarely
happens that a connection between the hallucination
and any unusual state of the person represented is
clearly established ; whilst in many, perhaps most
cases, the hallucination has not been recognised as
resembling any person known to either percipient, and
has in some instances been purely grotesque. In
most cases, therefore, it seems easier to believe that
we have to deal with a contagious hallucination, which,
whether initiated by a telepathic impulse, or purely
subjective in its origin, has been transferred tele-
pathically from the original percipient to others in his
company at the time. In some cases, indeed, it is no
doubt permissible, as suggested by Mr. Gurney, to
conjecture that the minds of all the percipients may
have been directly influenced by the agent, and
that subsequently an overflow from the mind of one
of the percipients may have served to reinforce the
original impulse, and, determine the exact moment of
the explosion in his co-percipients, just as the current

18

274 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

regulates the exact hour of striking irf electrically
synchronised clocks. Or again, the mind of each
percipient may react upon the others. There are,
however, a few cases where the percipients appear to
have had experiences relating to the same event
neither precisely similar nor simultaneous, which
seem to require the hypothesis of an impulse in each
case directly derived from the person represented.
Some cases of the kind are given in Phantasms of the
Living (vol. i. p. 362 ; vol. ii. 173-183), and others will
be cited in the latter part of this chapter. It will be
more convenient, however, to begin by giving ex-
amples of the ordinary type of collective hallucina-
tion.

Collective Auditory Hallucinations.
No. 78. From MR. C H. GARY.

"SECRETARY'S OFFICE, GENERAL POST OFFICE,

2<)th March 1892.

" At Bow, London, on the 8th March 1875, at about 8.30 P.M.,
I heard a voice say, * Joseph, Joseph.' I was talking with my
father and cousin (Joseph Gary) about the battle of Balaclava.
I was in good health, etc. My age was nearly thirteen. All
three of us heard the voice, which we suppose to have been
that of Joseph's grandmother." 1

In conversation, Mr. Gary explained to me that the
voice was not recognised by any of those who heard
it. It was indeed at first mistaken for the voice of
Mrs. Gary (Mr. C. H. Gary's mother), who was at the
time in an adjoining room, but who had not spoken.
A telegram announcing the grandmother's death was
received on the day following, and Mr. Joseph Gary
then said that the voice must have been that of his
grandmother. Mr. C. H. Gary had never seen this
lady.

1 This account was originally written in answer to a series of
questions on a " census " form. A few connecting words have been
inserted in order to make it read consecutively.

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS. 275

Mr. R. H. Gary writes from 49 Gladsmuir Road,

London, N. :

"March 31 st, 1892.

" With reference to your inquiry concerning the voice which
was heard at the time of the late Mrs. Victor's death, I am
able to state that my son, my nephew, and myself were sitting
together, and we all heard it distinctly. This occurred about
fourteen years ago. The account given by my son exactly
coincides with my own recollection. u R. H. GARY."

We have ascertained from the Registrar-General
that Mary Victor, widow of Thomas Victor, farmer,
died at Linwood, Paul, Penzance, on March 8th,
1875, from bronchitis.

Mr. C. H. Gary adds that though Mrs. Victor was
known to be ill, her death was not thought to be
imminent. He has himself had other auditory hallu-
cinations viz., the hearing of footsteps on two or
three occasions at about the time of the death of a
relation.

In the next case the voice heard did not corre-
spond with any external event It was, as it were,
"the after-image'* of a voice once familiar in the
house.

No. 79. From Miss ANNIE NEWBOLD.

"May 7//z, 1892.

" Florence N., a little child of under four years old, to whom
I was very much attached, died on May 23rd, 1889. She lived
in the house where I have my studio, and during the daytime
was invariably with me. There were no other children in the
house, and she was a general pet. I was ill for some time after
her death, and one morning in July 1889 I went to see Mrs. N.
We were sitting talking in her room on the ground-floor when
I suddenly heard the child's voice distinctly call c Miss Boo* (her
name for me). I was about to answer, when I remembered that it
could be no living voice and so continued my sentence, thinking
that I would say nothing about the occurrence to her mother. At
that moment Mrs. N. turned to me and said, ' Miss Newbold,
did you hear that ? ' * Yes/ I replied, c what was it ? ' And she
said, ' My little child, and she called Miss Boo." ' We both
noticed that the sound came from below, as if she were standing

2/6 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

in the kitchen doorway underneath the room in which we were
sitting. There was no possibility of its being another child, as
there was not one in the house. The upper floors were empty,
too, at the time. I can vouch for the accuracy of this account.

"ANNIE NEWBOLD."

Mrs. N. writes:

"Miss Newbold came to see me one morning in July 1889,
about two months after my only child's death. We were in my
room talking when I distinctly heard my little girl's voice call
* Miss Boo.' I asked Miss Newbold if she had heard anything
and she said ' Yes. What was it ? ' I replied, ' My little child,
and she said " Miss Boo." ' " LIZZIE N."

In answer to questions, Miss Newbold writes:

, " i. Mrs. N. never heard her little girl's voice on any other
occasion.

" 2. We were not talking about the little girl at the time, nor
upon any subject connected with her. I, however, had a box of
roses on my knee, which I was mechanically sorting, and putting
all the white ones on one side to send to the little child's grave.

"3. Mrs.-N. has never heard any other voices, either before
or since. Neither have I ; but I have three or four times in my
life been conscious of a presence without being able to explain
definitely what it was I felt. I have never seen anything.

1 With this may be compared an incident recorded by William Bell
Scott {Autobiographical Notes y vol. ii. pp. 117, 118). The account is
perhaps worth quoting, though the length of time which has elapsed,
and the fact that it rests upon a single memory, leave to the narrative
little value other than that derived from its literary associations. It
should be added, however, that Mr. Scott's claim to a rational seep-
ticism in these matters appears to be borne out by other passages in the
book.

" I have so repeatedly expressed my unbelief in all the vulgar or
popular forms of supernatural ism (says Mr. Scott), that I feel a little
hesitation in recording a circumstance resembling that class of things
which began the very evening after his [i.e., Rossetti's] departure. I
could now get a little peace to revise my D'urer Journal % and my
German friend Mr. Reid, who had given me an hour, stayed to dinner.
Rossetti's habit, when composing or even correcting for the press, was to
retire after dinner to the room above, the drawing-room of the old
house, to read aloud to himself, when by himself. This he did in a
voice so loud that we in the dining-room beneath could almost hear his
words. Well, as we were sitting after dinner, when he must have been
approaching London in the train, what could it be we heard ? The
usual voice reading to itself in the usual , place over our heads ! I
looked at A. B.; she was listening intently till she could bear it no

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS. 2/7

Collective Visual Hallucinations.

Passing to visual phantasms, we will begin by
citing a case in which there can be little doubt
that the hallucination was purely subjective ; a
better case for {Illustrating the hypothesis of the
infectious character of casual hallucination could
hardly be found. It is to be noted indeed that
the second percipient saw the apparition on the first
occasion only after a distinct verbal suggestion, but,
as already stated, there is no evidence that a single
verbal suggestion can produce a hallucination in a
healthy person in full possession of his normal
faculties.

No. 80. From MRS. GREIFFENBERG and MRS.
ERNI-GREIFFENBERG.

Mr. F. C. S. Schiller, through whom the account
was obtained, tells us that he heard the story in
October 1890 from the two percipients. The follow-
ing account was put together by him from an account
(which he also sent us) written by Mrs. Erni-Greiflen-
berg, and various conversations which he had with
both ladies on the subject. He afterwards obtained
their signatures to it. Neither of them has had any
other hallucinatory experience.

longer, and left the room. Our learned priest found me, I fancy, to be
rather distrait^ so he rose, saying it was about his time, and besides, he
continued, ' I hear Miss Boyd has some friend in the drawing-room, so
I won't go up. Give her my good-bye and respects/ I joined her at
once, but of course we heard nothing in the room itself. Such is the
circumstance as it took place. Mr. Reid, who knew nothing of the
habit of D. G. R., hearing the voice as well as we did, although it
sounded to him like talking rather than reading, was a sure evidence
we were not deceiving ourselves. Next night it was the same, and
so it went on till I left. When we tried to approach it was not audible,
or when the doors of the drawing-room and its small ante-room com-
municating with the staircase were left open, we could make nothing
of it. It gradually tapered off when Miss Boyd was left by herself; by-
and-by the whole establishment was bolted and barred for the winter.
Next season it had entirely ceased/ 9

278 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

"December itfh, 1890.

u In the beginning of the summer of 1884 we were sitting at
dinner at home as usual, in the middle of the day. In the midst
of the conversation I noticed my mother suddenly looking down
at something beneath the table. I inquired whether she had
dropped anything, and received the answer, * No, but I wonder
how that cat can have got into the room ? ' Looking underneath
the table, I was surprised to see a large white Angora cat beside
my mother's chair. We both got up, and I opened the door to
let the cat out. She marched round the table, went noiselessly
out of the door, and when about half-way down the passage
turned round and faced us. For a short time she regularly
stared at us with her green eyes, then she dissolved away, like a
mist, under our eyes.

" Even apart from the mode of her disappearance, we felt con-
vinced that the cat could not have been a real one, as we neither
had one of our own, nor knew of any that would answer to the
description in the place, and so this appearance made an un-
pleasant impression upon us.

"This impression was, however, greatly enhanced by what
happened in the following year, 1885, when we were staying in
Leipzig with my married sister (the daughter of Mrs. Greiften-
berg). We had come home one afternoon from a walk, when,
on opening the door of the flat, we were met in the hall by the
same white cat. It proceeded down the passage in front of us,
and looked at us with the same melancholy gaze. When it got
to the door of the cellar (which was locked), it again dissolved
into nothing.

" On this occasion also it was first seen by my mother, and we
were both impressed by the uncanny and gruesome character of
the appearance. In this case, also, the cat could not have been
a real one, as there was no such cat in the neighbourhood."

A very striking example of a collective hallucination,
apparently of the same type, was given to us by Mrs.
Ward. She and her husband, the late E. M. Ward,
R.A., in 1851 saw in their bedroom two small pear-
shaped lights which, when touched, broke into small
luminous fragments. (Phantasms of the Living, vol.
ii. p. 193.) We have also a case in which our inform-
ant, when a girl of fifteen, with another girl, saw in
the middle of the room, at a dancing class, a hallu-
cinatory chair. Yet another case is recorded by
Miss Foy, a careful observer, wfro had been troubled
for some time with a hallucinatory skeleton, the

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS 279

subjective character of which she fully recognised.
On one occasion when in hospital the hallucination
recurred, and appears to have been seen also by the
patient in the adjoining bed, to whom no hint of any
kind had been given. In both these cases, how-
ever, the evidence depends upon a single memory.
We have another case in which a singular luminous
body apparently a hallucination of a rudimentary
kind was perceived by two witnesses coincidently
with the death of a near relative of one of them.
The Rev. A. T. S. Goodrick, from whom I originally
received the account viva voce, was walking with a
friend across a moor in Sutherlandshire

"when there suddenly arose, to all appearance out of the
road between our feet as we walked, a ball of fire, about the size
of an i8lb. cannon ball. It was of an orange-red colour, and
there seemed to be a kind of rotatory motion in it, not un-
like a firework of some description. ... It seemed to move
forward with us, at a distance of not more than 6 inches in front,
and at the same time rose pretty swiftly breast high , . . and
then disappeared and left no trace."

Mr. Goodrick adds that a light rain was falling;
but there was no thunderstorm.

From uneducated witnesses such an account no
doubt would have but little value. A will-o'-the-wisp
in an adjoining marsh, or even a flash of lightning,
might in such a case form a sufficient basis for the
story. And even assuming that the account here
given accurately describes what was seen, it is
difficult to feel certain that the appearance was
hallucinatory. But if it were of a physical nature, it
is certainly not easy to conjecture what it could have
been, and the coincidence with the death is an ad-
ditional argument for regarding the phenomenon as
hallucinatory.

In the next case the phantasm seems to belong to
a not unusual type of subjective hallucinations, the
"after-image" of a familiar figure. There are no
grounds for ascribing the apparition to any " agency M

280 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

on the part of the person whose image was seen. If
the incident is correctly described, the prima facie
explanation is that a casual hallucination was com-
municated by telepathic suggestion to a second
person in the company of the original percipient At
our request the two accounts which follow were written
independently.

No. 8 1. From MRS. MILMAN.

"17 SOUTHWELL GARDENS, S.W.,
March 2oth, 1888.

" About three years ago I was coming out of the dining-room
one day, after lunch, with my sister. My mother had, as I
supposed, preceded us upstairs, as usual. The library door,
which faces the dining-room, stood wide open, and looking
through it as I crossed the hall, I saw my mother in the library,
seated at the writing-table, and apparently writing. Instead,
therefore, of going upstairs, as I had intended, I went to the
library door, wishing to speak to her, but when I looked in the
room was empty.

u At the same moment, my sister, who had also been going
towards the stairs in the first instance, changed her direction,

that we had both seen her seated at the writing-table, and
bending over it as if writing. My mother was never in the
habit of writing in the library.

^ " I recollect her dress perfectly, as the impression was quite
distinct and vivid. She had on a black cloak, and bonnet with
a yellow bird in it, which she generally wore.

" It is the only time anything of the kind has happened to
me. " M. J. MILMAN."

From Miss CAMPBELL.

" 17 SOUTHWELL GARDENS, S.W.,

March list, 1888.

" My sister and mother and myself, after returning from our
morning drive, came into the dining-room without removing
our things, and had luncheon as usual, during which my sister
and I laughed and cracked jokes in the gayest of spirits. After
a time my mother rose and left the room, but we remained on
for a few minutes. Finally we both go/ up and went into the
passage, and I was about to go upstairs and take off my things

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS. 28l

when I saw my sister turn into my father's study (which was
directly opposite the dining-room), with the evident intention,
as I supposed, of speaking to my mother, whom I distinctly
noticed seated at my father's desk in her cloak and bonnet,
busily absorbed in writing. The door of the study was wide
open at the time. I turned round and followed her to the door,
when, to my surprise, my mother had completely disappeared,
and I noticed my sister turned away too, and left the room as if
puzzled. I asked her, with some curiosity, what she went into
the room for ? She replied that she fancied she saw my mother
bending over the desk writing, and went in to speak to her.
Feeling very much startled and alarmed, we went upstairs to
see after her, and found her in her bedroom, where she went
immediately on leaving the dining-room, and had been all the
time. "E. J. CAMPBELL."

In the next case the apparition was recognised by
one of the percipients only, as resembling a relative
who had been dead some years. Neither percipient
appears to have seen the face.

No. 82. From MRS. J. C.

"August 20th, 1893.

" Seven years ago my husband and I had the following
curious experience :

" In the middle of the night I awoke with the feeling that
some one was near me, and at once saw a figure moving from the
side of my bed towards the wardrobe where I kept jewellery.
My supposition was that it was a burglar, and I refrained from
waking my husband (whose bed was two feet from mine), as I
thought the burglar would be armed, and I knew my husband
would certainly attack him and be at his mercy. I therefore lay
perfectly still.

" The apparition having passed the foot of my bed, then
came opposite my husband's, when, to my astonishment, I saw
my husband sit up in bed gazing at the figure. In a moment or
two he lay down again, and the figure apparently passed to the
door.

" We neither of us spoke one word that night.

"In the morning I asked my husband to look if the doors were
locked (of which there are three in the room). They were all
secure. I also examined the beds to see if they by any possi-
bility could have touched, and so I unconsciously have
awakened him, but thay were quite separate. I then asked
if he remembered anything happening in the night, and he

282 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

replied, 'Yes, a strange thing: I thought I saw my father go
out of that door. 1 Not till then did I tell him that I thought
the figure was a burglar, and how frightened I had been at the
thought of his struggling with an armed man, and had therefore
remained silent.

"The gas was burning, and I could see quite across the
room."

I received a full account of the incident orally
from Mrs. C. on the 2Oth August 1893. She told
me that she never saw the face of the figure, and
could not see, or cannot now recollect, the dress.
She had no doubt at the time that it was a burglar.
Mrs. C. has had no other hallucination of any kind.

Mr. C. writes on the 2ist August 1893:

" I have read my wife's account, and endorse it.

" To my recollection I was not dreaming previously to sitting
up in bed, when I believed I saw my father going towards the
door. My mind had not been specially active about his affairs
at that time, although I was rather anxious about some matters
of business.

" The figure I supposed to be my father (and I had no
thought it was any one else) moved noiselessly across the room
and disappeared through the doorway. I should have treated
it as a dream only, if my wife had not recalled my attention
to it in the morning by asking me if I remembered sitting up
in bed.

" Although I am certain my eyes were open at the time of
the apparition, I did not see the face, but recognised the figure
as that of my father by the general appearance as I remembered
him.

" I have had no other similar waking experience, but have
previously seen my father distinctly in a dream after his decease."

Mr. C. told me that he was positive the figure
could not have been that of a real man : the doors
were found locked on the inside in the morning.
Moreover, his recognition of the figure, though he
could not see the face, was unmistakable.

We have many similar accounts of collective
phantasms which appear to have differed from
subjective hallucinations of thfe ordinary type in

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS* 283

no other particular than the fact of their occur-
rence to two persons simultaneously. Thus, to
quote a few instances, Mrs. Willett, of Bedales,
Lindfield, Sussex, sent us an extract from her
diary describing a figure seen by her daughter and
a visitor, a fair-haired child running along a gallery.
The account is confirmed by the visitor, Miss S.
From Mrs. and Miss Goodhall we have an account
of a tall figure seen by them when driving in a

country lane. Miss C and two of her sisters

saw in a bedroom in a London house the figure of
a young man of middle height wearing a peaked
cap and dark clothes. Mrs. Y. and her niece saw
the figure of a child in a long grey dressing-gown
running down a lighted staircase. In this last case
the figure was mistaken for Mrs. Y.'s daughter, but
in the other cases the phantasm bore no resemblance
to any one with whom the percipients were acquainted.
In no instance does it seem possible except by vio-
lently straining the probabilities to suppose the figure
seen to have been that of a human being.

In the next case the phantasm, which was recog-
nised, occurred within a short time of the death of
the person represented. The narrator is a decorator
and house-painter, of Uniontown, Kentucky, U.S.A.

No. 83. From MR. S. S. FALKINBURG.

<fc September 12th, 1884.

4< The following circumstance is impressed upon my mind in
a manner which will preclude its ever being forgotten by me or
the members of my family interested. My little son Arthur,
who was then five years old, and the pet of his grandpapa, was
playing on the floor, when I entered the house a quarter to
seven o'clock, Friday evening, July nth, 1879. * was V ^ r 7
tired, having been receiving and paying for staves all day, and
it being an exceedingly sultry evening, I lay down by Artie on
the carpet, and entered into conversation with my wife not,
however, in regard to my parents. Artie, as usually was the
case, came and lay down with his little head upon my left arm,
when all at once he exclaimed, 'Papa! papal Grandpa 1' I
cast my eyes towar4s the ceiling, or opened my eyes, \ am not

284 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

sure which, when, between me and the joists (it was an old-
fashioned lo^-cabin), I saw the face of my father as plainly as
ever I saw him in my life. He appeared to me to be very pale,
and looked sad, as I had seen him upon my last visit to him
three months previous. I immediately spoke to my wife, who
was sitting within a few feet of me, and said, * Clara, there
is something wrong at home ; father is either dead or very
sick.' She tried to persuade me that it was my imagination,
but I could not help feeling that something was wrong. Being
very tired, we soon after retired, and about ten o'clock Artie
woke me up repeating, ' Papa, grandpa is here.' I looked, and
believe, if I remember right, got up, at any rate to get the child
warm, as he complained of coldness, and it was very sultry
weather. Next morning I expressed my determination to go
at once to Indianapolis. My wife made light of it and over-
persuaded me, and I did not go until Monday morning, and
upon arriving at home (my father's), I found that he had been
buried the day before, Sunday, July I3th.

" Now comes the mysterious part to me. After I had told my
mother and brother of my vision, or whatever it may have been,
they told me the following :

" On the morning of the nth July, the day of his death, he
arose early and expressed himself as feeling unusually well, and
ate a hearty breakfast. He took the Bible (he was a Methodist
minister), and went and remained until near noon. He ate a
hearty dinner, and went to the front gate, and, looking up and
down the street, remarked that he could not, or at least would
not be disappointed, some one was surely coming. During the
afternoon and evening he seemed restless, and went to the gate,
looking down street, frequently. At last, about time for supper,
he mentioned my name, and expressed his conviction that God,
in His own good time, would answer his prayers in my behalf,
I being at that time very wild. Mother going into the kitchen
to prepare supper, he followed her and continued talking to
her about myself and family, and especially Arthur, my son.
Supper being over, he moved his chair near the door, and was
conversing about me at the time he died. The last words
were about me, and were spoken, by mother's clock, 14
minutes of 7. He did not fall, but just quit talking and was dead.

" In answer to my inquiries, my son Arthur says he remem-
bers the circumstances, and the impression he received upon
that occasion is ineffaceable.

"SAMUEL S. FALKINBURG;"

We have procured a certificate of death from the
Indianapolis Board of Health, yhich confirms the
date given*

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS. 28$

Mrs. Falkinburg writes to us, on September 12,

1884:

"In answer to your request, I will say that I cheerfully give
my recollection of the circumstance to which you refer.

" We were living in Brown County, Indiana, fifty miles south
of Indianapolis, in the summer of 1879. My husband (Mr. S.
S. Falkinburg) was in the employ of one John Ayers, buying
staves.

" On the evening of July iith, about 6.30 o'clock, he came
into the room where I was sitting, and lay down on the carpet
with my little boy Arthur, complaining of being very tired and
warm. Entering into conversation on some unimportant matter,
Arthur went to him and lay down by his side. In a few moments
my notice was attracted by hearing Arthur exclaim : ' Oh, papa,
grandpa, grandpa, papa,' at the same time pointing with his
little hand toward the ceiling. I looked in the direction he was
pointing, but saw nothing. My husband, however, said : * Clara,
there is something wrong- at home ; father is either dead or very
sick.' I tried to laugh him out of what I thought an idle fancy ;
but he insisted that he saw the face of his father looking at him
from near the ceiling, and Arthur said, ' Grandpa was come, for
he saw him.' That night we were awakened by Artie again call-
ing his papa to see * grandpa.'

" A short time after my husband started (Monday) to go to
Indianapolis, I received a letter calling him to the burial of his
father*, and some time after, in conversation with his mother, it
transpired that the time he and Artie saw the vision was within
two or three minutes of the time his father died.

" CLARA T. FALKINBURG."

Asked whether this was his sole experience of a
visual hallucination, Mr. Falkinburg replied that it
was. Occasionally, however, since that time, he has
had auditory impressions suggestive of his father's
presence.

Here again, in the absence of evidence to the
contrary, it seems more probable that Mr. Falkin-
burg's hallucination was telepathically originated, than
that the casual remark of a child of five could produce
an effect hitherto observed only as the result of hyp-
notic influence or some other equally potent disturb-
ing cause.

In the following c*ase, which again comes to us from

286 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

the United States, the vision was of a more complicated
kind, and part only of the original percipient's experi-
ence was shared. The occurrence of the apparition
within a few hours of the death of a person to whom
it bore some resemblance seems to be established ;
but in estimating the value of the coincidence, it
should be borne in mind that the phantasm was
not at the time referred to the deceased, and that
there are numerous chances of the coincidence of an
unrecognised hallucination with a death amongst a
doctor's circle of acquaintance.

No. 84. From DR. W. O. S.,

who wrote to Dr. Hodgson from Albany, New York,
on the loth September 1888, enclosing the following
account :

" I am a physician, have been in practice about eleven years ;
am in excellent health, do not use intoxicants, tobacco, drugs,
or strong tea or coffee. Am not subject (in the least) to dreams,
and have never been a believer in apparitions, etc.

" On Monday last, September 3rd, 1888, I went to bed 1 about
it P.M., after my day's work. Had supper, a light one, about
7 P.M. ; made calls after supper.

"My bedroom is on the second floor of a city block house,
and I kept all my doors locked except the one leading to my
wife's room, next to mine, opening into mine by a wide sliding
door, always left wide open at night. The diagram opposite
will illustrate the relation of the rooms.

" I occupy room i and my wife room 2. Her room has
but one window, and a door opening only into my room. My
room has three doors (all bolted at night) and one window.
Both windows in our rooms have heavy green shades, which are
drawn nearly to the bottom of the window at night, shutting out
early daylight. No artificial lights command the windows, and
the moonlight very seldom.

"I undressed and went to bed about n, and soon was
asleep. In the neighbourhood of 4 A.M. I was awakened by a
strong light in my face. I awoke and thought I saw my wife
standing at Fig. 3, as she was to rise at 5.30 to take an early
train. The light was so bright and pervading that I spoke, but
got no answer. As I spoke, the figure^ retreated to Fig. 4, and
as gradually faded to a spot at Fig. 5, The noiseless shifting of

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS.

287

the light made me think it was a servant in the hall and the light
was thrown through the keyhole as she moved. That could not
be, as some clothing covered the keyhole. I then thought a
burglar must be in the room, as the light settled near a large
safe in my room. Thereupon I called loudly to my wife, and
sprang to light a light. As I called her name she suddenly
awoke, and called out, ' What is that bright light in your
room ? ' I lit the gas and searched (there had been no light in
either room). Everything was undisturbed.

" My wife left on the early train. I attended to my work as
usual. At noon, when I reached home, the servant who
answers the door informed me that a man had been to my
office to see about a certificate for a young lady who had died
suddenly early that morning from a hemorrhage from the lungs.
She died about one o'clock the figure I saw about four o'clock.

1 1

1

HALL

- ' L- T

5"

: I

BCD [ 4*

3 .

j poo* 1

i 1 T

I

X**0

'

sco Roo M j-

There was but little resemblance between the two, as far as I
noticed, except height and figure. The faces were not unlike,
except that the apparition seemed considerably older. I had
seen the young lady the evening before, but, although much
interested in the case, did not consider it immediately serious.
She had been in excellent health up to within two days of her
death. At first she spit a little blood, from a strain. When
she was taken with the severe hemorrhage, and choked to
death, she called for help and for me.

" This is the first experience of the kind I have ever had, or
personally have known about- It was very clear the figure or
apparition at first, but rapidly faded. My wife remarked the
light before I had spoken anything except her name. When I
awake I am wide awake in an instant, as I am accustomed to
answer a telephone in the hall and my office-bell at night."

288 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

From MRS. W. O. S.

"ALBANY, September 27*%, 1888.

" On the morning of September 4 I was suddenly awakened
out of a sound sleep by my husband's calling to me from an
adjoining room. Before I answered him I was struck with the
fact that although the green shade to his window was drawn
down, his room seemed flooded by a soft yellow light, while my
chamber, with the window on same side as his, and with the
shade drawn up, was dark. The first thing I said was, ' What
is that light ?' He replied he didn't know. I then got up and
went into his room, which was still quite light. The light faded
away in a moment or two. The shade was down all the time.
When I went back to my room I saw that it was a few moments
after four."

In answer to further questions, Mrs. W. O. S.
adds :

"October i6///, 1888.

" In regard to the light in my husband's room, it seemed to
me to be perhaps more in the corner between his window and my
door, although it was faintly distributed through the room.
When I first saw the light (lying in bed) it was brilliant, but I
only commanded a view of the corner of his room, between his
window and my door. When I reached the door the light had
begun to fade, though it seemed brighter in the doorway where
I stood than elsewhere. ' My husband seemed greatly perplexed,
and said, * How strange 1 I thought surely there was a woman
in my room/ I said, ' Did you think it was I ? ' He said, ' At
first, of course, I thought so, but when I rubbed my eyes I

saw it was not. It looked some like Mrs. B ' (another

patient of his, not the girl who died that night). He, more-
over, said that the figure never seemed to look directly at him,
but towards the wall beyond his bed; and that the figure
seemed clothed in white, or something very light. That was
all he said, except that later, when he knew the girl was
dead, and I asked him if the figure at all resembled her, he
said, ' Yes, it did look like her, only older." *

1 Proc. American S.P.R., pp. 405-408. The reader may be
interested in comparing the ragged and possibly commonplace
account given in the text with the following spirited version of
the same incident quoted from the Arena, March 1892. The writer
of the account states that " the story, as I tell it, was given me by
the wife." But he does not, it will be observed, quote it as in Mrs.
W. O. S.'s words. After describing how the doctor was awakened by
a strong light in the room and saw the figure of a woman, whom

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS. 289

So far the instances quoted belong to what may
be called the normal type of collective hallucination.
In the last case, indeed, one percipient saw less than
the other, but that may have been due merely to the
fact that she awoke later. In the three cases which
follow the impressions produced upon the percipients
were diverse, and there is no evidence that they were
simultaneous. In the first of the three cases, indeed,
the circumstances strongly suggest that the mind of
one percipient was influenced by the other. But in
the last case, where the percipients were far apart, and
their impressions markedly different, it seems reason-
able to conjecture their interest in the agent being
equal that the results produced were in each case
directly referable to the dying man.

he at first mistook for his wife, the writer in the Arena proceeds as
follows :

" By this time he was broad awake, and sat upright in bed staring
at Ihe figure. He noticed that it was a woman in a white garment ;
and looking sharply, he recognised it, as he thought, as one of his
patients who was very ill. Then he realised that this could not be so,
and that if any one was in the room, it must be an intruder who had
no right to be there. With the vague thought of a possible burglar
thus disguised, he sprang out of bed and grasped his revolver,
which he was accustomed to have near at hand. This brought him
face to face with the figure, not three feet away. He now saw
every detail of dress, complexion, and feature, and for the first time
recognised the fact that it was not a being of flesh and blood. Then it
was that, in quite an excited manner, he called his wife, hoping that
she would get there to see it also. But the moment he called her
name, the figure disappeared, leaving, however, the intense yellow
light behind, and which they both observed for five minutes by the
watch before it faded out.

"The next day it was found that one of his patients, closely resem-
bling the figure he had seen, had died a few minutes before he saw his
vision, had died calling for him.

" It will be seen that this story, like the first one in this article, is
perfectly authentic in every partictiJar. 7 here is no question as to the
facts."

That, no doubt, is how the thing ought to have happened. A
revolver and a watch are essential to a properly upholstered ghost-
story. There ought to have been the dramatic confrontation of the
living man with his spectral visitant ; there ought to have been the
instant recognition and as instant disappearance. Above all, there
ought to have been the excfuisite adjustment in the times of vision and
death.

19

2QO APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

The narrative which follows was originally printed
in July 1883, in an account written by the Warden,
entitled "The Orphanage and Home, Aberlour,
Craigellachie." It will be observed that the account,
though written in the third person, is actually first
hand.

No. 85. From the REV. C H. JUPP, Warden.

"In 1875 a man died leaving a widow and six orphan
children. The three eldest were admitted into the Orphanage.
Three years afterwards the widow died, and friends succeeded
in getting funds to send the rest here, the youngest being about
four years of age. [Late one evening, about six months after
the admission of the younger children, some visitors arrived
unexpectedly; and] the Warden agreed to take a bed in the
little ones' dormitory, which contained ten beds, nine occupied.

"In the morning, at breakfast, the Warden made the follow-
ing statement : c As near as I can tell I fell asleep about eleven
o'clock, and slept very soundly for some time. I suddenly woke
without any apparent reason, and felt an impulse to turn round,
my face being towards the wall, from the children. Before
turning, I looked up and saw a soft light in the room. The gas
was burning low in the hall, and the dormitory door being open,
I thought it probable that the light came from that source. It
was soon evident, however, that such was not the case. I
turned round, and then a wonderful vision met my gaze. Over
the second bed from mine, and on the same side of the room,
there was floating a small cloud of light, forming a halo of the
brightness of the moon on an ordinary moonlight night.

" * I sat upright in bed, looking at this strange appearance,
took up my watch and found the hands pointing to five minutes
to one. Everything was quiet, and all the children sleeping
soundly. In the bed, over which the light seemed to float,
slept the youngest of the six children mentioned above.

" ' I asked myself, " Am I dreaming ? " No ! I was wide
awake. I was seized with a strong impulse to rise and touch
the substance, or whatever it might be (for it was about five
feet high), and was getting up when something seemed to hold
me back. I am certain I heard nothing, yet \felt and perfectly
understood the words " No, lie clown, it won't hurt you." I at
once did what \Jelt I was told to do. I fell asleep shortly after-
wards and rose at half-past five, that being my usual time.

" * At six o'clock I began dressing the children, beginning at
the bed furthest from the one in wKch I slept. Presently I
came to the bed over which I had seen the light hovering. I

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS.

took the little boy out, placed him on my knee, and put on some
of his clothes. The child had been talking with the others;
suddenly he was silent. And then, looking me hard in the face
with an extraordinary expression, he said, " Oh, Mr. Jupp, my
mother came to me last night. Did you see her?" For a
moment I could not answer the child. I then thought it better
to pass it off, and said, " Come, we must make haste, or we shall
be late for breakfast." '

" The child never afterwards referred to the matter, we are
told, nor has it since ever been mentioned to him. The Warden
says it is a mystery to him; he simply states the fact and there
leaves the matter, being perfectly satisfied that he was mistaken
in no one particular."

In answer to inquiries, the Rev. C. Jupp writes
to us :

"THE ORPHANAGE AND CONVALESCENT HOME,
AEERLOUR, CRAIGELLACHIE,

November I3///, 1883.

" I fear anything the little boy might now say would be un-
reliable, or I would at once question him. Although the matter
was fully discussed at the time, it was never mentioned in the
hearing of the child; and yet when, at the request of friends,
the account was published in our little magazine, and the child
read it, his countenance changed, and looking up, he said, i Mr.
Jupp, that is me.' I said, ' Yes, that is what we saw.' He said,
* Yes,' and then seemed to fall into deep thought, evidently with
pleasant remembrances, for he smiled so sweetly to himself, and
seemed to forget I was present.

" I much regret now that I did not learn something from the
child at the time.

"CHAS. JUPP."

In answer to inquiries, Mr. Jupp says that he has
never had any other hallucination of the senses ; and
adds :

" My wife was the only person of adult age to whom I
mentioned the circumstance at the time. Shortly after, I
mentioned it to our Bishop and Primus."

Mrs. Jupp writes, from the Orphanage, on June 23,
1886:

" This is to certify that the account of the light seen by the
Warden of this establishment is correct, and was mentioned to
me at the time " i.e., next morning.

2Q2 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

It is to be regretted that it is not now possible
to ascertain whether the child's experience were
of the nature of a dream or a borderland hallucina-
tion. But the ambiguity does not affect either the
interpretation or the significance of the incident.

In the next case the two apparitions were not only
different, but were seen in different rooms. The time
in each case appears to have been within an hour of
midnight. It will be noticed that each percipient
is doubtful whether to class her experience as a
dream or a waking vision. If dreams, they were
certainly of an unusual type, since they included
in each case an impression of the room in which
they occurred.

No. 86. From SISTER MARTHA.

Account, signed by herself, which Sister Martha
(Sister of the Order of Saint Charles) gave to M.
Ch. Richet at Mirecourt

"On Friday, 6th March 1891, I was called to nurse M.
Bastien. At night, when I had been dozing for about five
minutes, I had the following dream if I may call it a dream ;
I think I was sleeping. A light, a sound came from the fire-
place, and a woman stepped out whose appearance I did not
recognise, but who had a voice like Madame Bastien's. I saw
her as distinctly as I see you. She approached the bed where
Ccile was sleeping, and taking her hand, said, * How sweet
Cdcile is ! ' I followed her in my dream, crossing myself as
I went. She opened the door and vanished.

" I cannot say the exact hour, but it was early in the night,
between 11 P.M. and i A.M. I do not know exactly, for I had
not a watch. I awoke immediately after this dream. I did not
waken Cecile, for I did not want to say anything to her about
it, but as the dream impressed me very much, I told it to her the
following morning when I awoke. I can give no further details
about the dream except that the lady carried a candle and had
coloured spots on her garments.

" I have never had a similar dream except once, when I
thought I saw my dead mother and hekrd her say, ' You do not
remember me in your prayers.' "

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS. 293

Madame Houdaille writes:

" MIRECOURT, 20th March> 1891.

" During my father's illness the Sister kept watch on the first
floor, and my brother and I passed the evening on the ground
floor. About ten o'clock I left my brother and went upstairs to
bed. Between eleven o'clock and midnight (I do not know
whether I was waking or sleeping, probably between the two)
I perceived, near my bed, a white shadow like a phantom, which
I had not time to recognise. I gave a loud cry of terror which
startled my brother, who was just going up to bed. He hastened
to my room, and found me gazing wildly around. The rest of
the night passed quietly.

" Next morning Cdcile told me about the Sister's dream.

" She, Cecile, had seen or heard nothing. I was almost
angry with her and her tale, and treated it as a silly dream,
so terrified was I at the occurrence of the two apparitions the
same night, and probably at the same hour. Cecile and the
Sister knew nothing of my dream. I did not tell it to the
Sister till two days after M. Richet and Octave 1 had visited the
hospital." 2

In the next case, as already said, the two percipients
were many miles apart. The impression in the first
narrative should probably be classed as a dream ; in
the second as an auditory hallucination.

No. 87. From SIR LAWRENCE JONES.

"CRANMER HALL, FAKENHAM, NORFOLK,
April 26///, 1893.

"On August 20th, 1884, I was staying at my father-in-law's
house at Bury St. Edmunds. I had left my father in perfectly
good health about a fortnight before. He was at home at this
address. About August 1 8th I had had a letter from my mother
saying that my father was not quite well, and that the doctor
had seen him and made very light of the matter, attributing his
indisposition to the extreme heat of the weather.

" I was not in any way anxious on my father's account, as he
was rather subject to slight bilious attacks.

" I should add, though, that I had been spending that day,
August 2oth, at Cambridge, and should have stayed the night
there had not a sort of vague presentiment haunted me that
possibly there would be a letter from home the next morning.

1 M. Octave Iloimaille.

2 Annales des Sciences Psychiques, vol. i. pp. 98, 99.

294 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

My wife, too, had a similar feeling that if I stayed the night at
Cambridge I might regret it. In consequence of this feeling
I returned to Bury, and that night woke up suddenly to find
myself streaming with perspiration and calling out : c Something
dreadful is happening ; I don't know what.' The impression of
horror remained some time, but at last I fell asleep till the
morning.

" My father, Sir Willoughby Jones, died very suddenly of
heart disease about i A.M. on August 2ist. He was not in his
room at the moment, but was carried back to his room and
restoratives applied, but in vain.

" My brother Herbert and I were the only two of the family
absent from home at the time. The thoughts of those present
(my mother, brother, and three sisters) no doubt turned most
anxiously towards us, and it is to a telepathic impression from
them in their anxiety and sorrow that I attribute the intimations
we received.

" LAWRENCE J. JONES."

Lady Jones writes :

" I have a vivid remembrance of the occurrence related
above by my husband. I was sound asleep when he awoke,
and seizing me by [the] wrist, exclaimed: 'Such a dreadful thing
is happening,' and I had much difficulty in persuading him that
there was nothing wrong.

** He went to sleep again, but was much relieved in the morn-
ing by finding a long letter from Sir Willoughby, posted the day
before, and written in good spirits. Having read this and gone
to his dressing-room, however, he soon returned with the tele-
gram summoning him hgrne at once, and said as he came in :
' My impression in the night was only too true. 5

"EVELYN M. JONES."

Mr. Herbert Jones, the other percipient, describes
his experience as follows :

" KNEBWORTH RECTORY, STEVENAGE.
"Recollections of August 2O/#, 1884.

" I had spent the day at Harpendcn, and returned home
about 8 P.M., and went to bed about 10.30.

" I woke at 12 o'clock, hearing my name called twice, as I
fancied. I lit my candle, and, seeing nothing, concluded it was
a dream looked at my watch, and went to sleep again.

" I woke again and heard people carrying something down-
stairs from the upper storey, just outa : de my room. I lit my
candle, got out of bed, and waited till the men were outside

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS.

my door. They seemed to be carrying something heavy, and
came down step by step.

" I opened my door, and it was pitch dark. I was puzzled
and dumbfounded. I went into my sitting-room and into the
hall, but everything was dark and quiet. I went back to bed
convinced I had been the sport of another nightmare. It was
about 2 A.M. by my watch. At breakfast next morning on my
plate wab a telegram telling me to come home.

" This whole story may be nothing, but it was odd that I
should have twice &ot up in one night, and that during that
night and those hours my father was dying.

" H. E. JONES.
April tfh, 1893."

Sir Lawrence Jones adds:

" My brother was then a curate in London, living at 32 Palace
Street, Westminster, where the above experience took place.

" L. J. J.

A case somewhat resembling this last is recorded by
Professor Richct (Proc. S.P.R., vol. v. pp. 163, 164).
On the night of the 14-iSth November 1887, when his
physiological laboratory in Paris was burnt, two of his
intimate friends, M. Ferrari and M. H6ricourt, dreamt
of fire ; and on the evening of the isth Madame B.
(the hypnotic subject referred to in Chapter V.) was
hypnotised by M. Gibert at Havre and "sent on a
journey" [i.e., in imagination] to Paris to visit, amongst
others, M. Richet. Shortly afterwards she awoke
herself by crying out in great distress, " It is burning."
Unfortunately, those present contented themselves
with calming her excitement, and did not at the time
inquire into the nature of her impression. But the
triple coincidence is certainly remarkable.

A case which may perhaps be referred to the
same category is recorded by the Rev. A. T. Fryer in
the Journal of the S.P.R. for June 1890. Mr. C.
Williams died at Plaxtol, Sevenoaks, on Sunday, April
28th, 1889, having been confined to his bed with
pleuro-pneumonia since the preceding Tuesday. On
Friday the 26th hfs figure was seen in the street by

296 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Mr. Hind at about 10.40 A.M., and on the day follow-
ing at about I P.M. by two ladies, Miss Dalison and
Miss Sinclair, simultaneously. None of the per-
cipients were aware of Mr. Williams' illness. It was
impossible that the figure seen could have been the
real man, and, as Mr. Fryer shows that a mistake
of identity was under the circumstances extremely
improbable, it seems not unlikely that we have here
to deal with a case of two telepathic hallucinations
originated independently and at a considerable interval
by the same agent.

297

CHAPTER XIII.

SOME LESS COMMON TYPES OF TELEPATHIC
HALLUCINATION.

THE hallucinations so far dealt with belong to classes
numerically strong, and the narratives quoted could
be paralleled over and over again from our records by
other narratives equally well attested. And this fact
furnishes in itself a strong presumption of the sub-
stantial accuracy of the accounts given. For as there
is little in the kind of incident described the bare
occurrence of a hallucination coincidently with an
external event or with another hallucination to
suggest the work of the imagination, there is little
warrant for ascribing this consensus of testimony
among the narratives to any other cause than a
common foundation in fact. The episodes consist,
indeed, of such simple elements as to leave small room
for embellishment Moreover, by those who accept
the theory of telepathy an additional argument for
the authenticity of these narratives may be found in
the consideration that in that theory they receive a
simple and sufficient explanation. But we meet
occasionally with accounts of hallucinatory experi-
ences which do not fall readily under any of the
comparatively simple categories already discussed.
The mere difficulty of explaining the genesis of
hallucinations of such aberrant types would not, in
the present stage of our knowledge, be an argument
against their authenticity. But it serves to rob them
of the support wfrich they might otherwise have

298 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

received from their affiliation with better known forms
of hallucination ; whilst the recent first-hand evidence
actually available is not sufficient in itself to sub-
stantiate them. Whilst, therefore, such cases should
be duly recorded and may legitimately be discussed,
it seems best to await the receipt of further evidence
before a final judgment is passed upon them. But in
some instances there is a further reason why the
question should at most be held unproven. Some of
the features which distinguish these cases from
ordinary telepathic hallucinations, whilst occurring
rarely in well-attested recent narratives, are to be
found more commonly in remote, uncorroborated, and
traditional stories. This circumstance is, of course, a
strong argument against their genuineness, since it
proves that the imagination tends to create such
features. But it is not a conclusive argument. The
imagination may itself have been inspired in the first
instance by fact; it may have copied, not bettered,
nature. That the legendary epics of the older world
have invented winged dragons is clearly not an argu-
ment that can weigh against positive evidence for the
existence in a still more remote past of pterodactyls.

Reciprocal Cases.

These considerations apply with r u!! fence tu the
first of the dubious types here to be considered. In
publishing seven first-hand "reciprocal" cases in 1886
(Phantasms, vol. ii. p. 167) Mr. Gurncy pointed out
that the evidence then available was " so small that
the genuineness of the type might fairly be called in
question." Still, regarding it as probably genuine, he
anticipated that we should ultimately obtain more
well-attested specimens of it. In the eight years
which have elapsed since Mr. Gurney wrote this
anticipation has met with only partial fulfilment. We
have met with but two recent well-attested cases which
clearly fall under the same category as those already

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 2Q9

given. One of these cases has already been quoted
(No. 63), and was indeed included in the supplemen-
tary chapter of Phantasms of ' t 'he Living; the other is
as follows :

No. 88. From the REV. C L. EVANS.

"FORTON, GARSTANG.
(Received on the iWt of September 1889.)

"Two years ago I had occasion to undergo a course of

magnetism, under the treatment of Miss . I was under her

trcatmcnt for six weeks, and derived considerable benefit from
her treatment. A warm friendship sprang up between us, as
she had wonderfully improved my sight. I went up to St.
Edmund Hall, Oxford, at the commencement of the October
term, as my eyes were so much stronger. One afternoon, as I
had just come in from the river, being rather tired, I sat down
for a minute before I changed, when, to my great surprise, the
door opened, and Miss appeared to walk in.

" She was looking rather pale at the time, and looked intently
at me for about a minute, then left the room as slowly as she had
walked in. I was much alarmed, as I fancied that something
must have happened to her, and I immediately sat down and

wrote off two letters, one to Miss , asking if she was well,

and another to my mother, telling her of the strange occurrence.
The next day I had back the two replies. My mother said

that on that very afternoon she had called on Miss , and

naturally they had been discussing my case. She said that my

description of Miss J s dress, etc., was perfectly accurate. I

then read Miss 's note. She stated that my mother had called,

and had left at about half-past four, she then had lain down for a
few minutes, and was thinking and wishing to see me. She had a
distinct impression that she saw me during this sleep, or trance,
but when she awoke the impression was not very vivid. The
time exactly coincided, and she said that my description of her
was very accurate. At the time that she appeared to me I was
not thinking in the least of her.

"CHARLES LLOYD EVANS."

I called on Mr. Evans on the 2Oth April 1892, and
had a long conversation with him. The following
notes of my interview were made at the time and
written out a few days later :

"The occurrence took place in November 1887. It would
be about 4.15 P.M. He was resting in his chair in boating

3OO APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

clothes with the door ajar. Heard a knock or sound as
of some one entering ; turned round and saw Miss - come
into the room and walk towards him. She was dressed in red
bodice and dark silk skirt (a not unfamiliar dress), but with a
silver filigree cross hanging from a chain round her neck which
he had never seen before. Learnt afterwards that the cross had
been given by General - only a few days before the incident.

"The figure looked him straight in the face, then seemed to
fade away bit by bit.

" He was himself perfectly well and not a bit sleepy.

" He has had no other hallucinations. His age at the time
was twenty."

Mr. Evans's mother writes :

v April 7,7 tli, 1892.

" In reply to the questions you asked me about the apparition
of Miss - to my son, when at Oxford, I can fully verify his
statement. He wrote to me the same afternoon, begging me to
call upon Miss - and see if she was ill, detailing me the account
of what he had seen, and also describing her dress minutely and
the cross she was wearing. I called upon Miss - the following
day, and read her my son's letter, giving the hour at which she
had appeared to him. She told me that she had not been feel-
ing well, and was lying down on the couch thinking, too, of my
son, and that she went off into a sort of trance, and she saw
him distinctly looking at her and he was very pale. This made
a deep impression upon me, for I must own myself that I hardly
believed it to be possible. However, Miss - told me that my
son had at once written to her, fearing that she must be ill, and
told her the circumstances under which she appeared to him.
When I saw Miss - she was then wearing the same dress and
filigree cross which Charlie had described to me in his letter,
and which he had never seen her wearing before. I fear that I
cannot now find my son's letter, but should I come across it I
will forward it to you. Miss - , however, can corroborate all
that I have said,

"MARY E. EVANS."

Afterwards I saw Miss - . The following notes
of the interview were made the same day :

"July 17*6, 1892.

ct Her account of the matter is that Mrs. Evans (percipient's
mother) called on her on the afternoon of the vision and talked
much about her son. After Mrs. Evans left probably about
5.30 P.M. Miss - , as usual, lay down to sleep for a few
minutes ; woke about 6 P.M. with the recollection of having seen

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 3OI

Mr. C. L. Evans. Can recall no details of appearance merely
the recollection of having been in the same room with him.

" The next day she received a letter from Mr. C. L. Evans
telling of his vision, and on the same day another visit from his
mother.

" Miss was wearing the dress and filigree cross de-
scribed. The cross, as stated, had been given to her only a few
days before.

"Miss has kept Mr. Evans's letter. 1 She has had many

visions and dreams in her life, but she cannot recall another
relating to Mr. Evans.

" She is not sure of the time at which her vision or dream
occurred. It may have been earlier than 6 P.M., her hours
being very irregular.

" She had compared notes with Mr. Evans, and was under the
impression that their experiences coincided. But I think that
her first statement 6 P.M. is probably correct. If so, her
dream would have come one and a half to two hours after Mr.
Evans's vision."

If the above account correctly describes what took
place and I know of no ground for doubting either
the accuracy or the good faith of the narrators it

seems clear either that Mr. Evans and Miss

reciprocally affected each other, or that Mr. Evans,

whilst impressing Miss with the idea of his

presence, was able himself to attain to a supernormal
perception of her surroundings. For the latter ex-
planation, however, we have no support in analogy,
and it seems less unwarrantable provisionally to re-
gard this case and others like it as being reciprocally
telepathic. It should, perhaps, be pointed out, as
bearing upon the extreme rarity of cases of the kind,
that there may be instances of reciprocal affection of
which, from the very nature of the case, we could not
hope to obtain evidence. It is conceivable, for in-
stance, that in the ordinary case of an apparition at
death, the dying man may himself have been a per-
cipient as well as an agent, since circumstances rarely
permit of his side of the experience being recorded.
It is conceivable also that in cases of collective

1 She was, however, unable to find it.

3O2 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

hallucination the effect may really be a reciprocal one,
the two persons concerned simultaneously affecting
and being affected by each other, until the force so
generated explodes into hallucination. But in the
present state of our knowledge it would be premature
to speculate further.

A Misinterpreted Message.

The next case also seems susceptible of more than
one explanation. The account which follows was
written in 1890.

No. 89. From Miss C. L. HAWKINS-DEMPSTER, 24
Portman Square, W,

" I ran downstairs and entered the drawing-room at 7.30 P.M.,
believing I had kept my two sisters waiting- for dinner. They
had gone to dinner, the room was empty. Behind a long" sofa
I saw Mr. II. standing-. He moved three steps nearer. I heard
nothing. I was not at all afraid or surprised, only felt concern
as [to] what he wanted, as he was in South America. I learnt
next morning that at that moment his mother was breathing her
last. I went and arranged her for burial, my picture still hang-
ing above the bed, between the portraits of her two absent sons.

u I was in the habit of hearing often from [Mr. H.], and was
not at that moment anxious about Mrs. H.'s health, though she
was aged. I had had twenty-five days before the grief of
losing an only brother. No other persons were present at the
time." 1

In answer to further inquiries, we learnt from Miss
Hawkins-Dempster that the above incident occurred
on New Year's Eve, 1876-77; the room was lighted by
" one bright lamp and a fire," and the figure did not
seem to go away, she merely "ceased to see it." She
used to see Mrs. H. often, and was in no anxiety as to
her health at the time. Mrs. H. was very old, but not
definitely ill. Miss Hawkins-Dempster corrected her
first statement as to the exactness of the coincidence

1 It should be explained that this account ws written on a "census"
form, in the limited space provided for answers to our printed questions.

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 303

by informing us that Mrs. H. died in the morning of
the same day on which the apparition was seen.

Miss Hawkins-Dempster mentioned what she had
seen to her sister, who thus corroborates :

"July is///, 1892.

" I heard of my sister Miss C. L. Hawkins- Dempster's vision
of Mr. H. in the drawing-room at 7.30 P.M. on New Year's Eve,
1876-77, immediately after it happened, and before hearing that
Mrs. H. died the same day, the news of which reached us later
that evening.

" H. H. DEMPSTER."

We have verified the date of death at Somerset
House.

Miss Hawkins-Dempster has had one other experi-
ence an apparition seen also by her sister and their
governess. They were children at the time, aged
about fourteen and twelve respectively.

Mr. Myers had an interview with the Misses
Hawkins-Dempster on July i6th, 1892, and writes as
follows the next day:

" Miss C. Hawkins-Dempster's veridical experience is well
remembered by both sisters. The decedent was a very old
lady, who was on very intimate terms with them, and had special
reasons for thinking of Miss C. Hawkins-Dcmpstpr in con-
nection with the son whose figure appeared. He was at the
other side of the world, and most certainly had not heard of
his mother's death at the time.

"The figure was absolutely life-like. Miss Hawkins-Dempster
noticed the slight cast of the eye and the delicate hands. The
figure rested one hand on the back of a chair and held the other
out. Miss Hawkins-Dempster called out, ' What can I do for
you?' forgetting for the moment the impossibility that it could
be the real man. Then she simply ceased to see the figure.

" She was in good health at the time, and her thoughts were
occupied with business matters."

We have a parallel case amongst our records.
Miss V. saw in church the hallucinatory figure of an
acquaintance looking at her, and subsequently learned
that he was at the time at the deathbed of his mother.
A few other cases are given in Phantasms of the

304 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Living. I should be disposed to explain these narra-
tives as instances of the misinterpretation of a tele-
pathic message. I should conjecture, that is, that the
impulse received from the dying woman, instead of
giving rise, as in an ordinary case, to a hallucination of
herself, called up in the percipient's mind, whether
through the operation of associated ideas or from
some other cause, the image of a near relative.
Indeed, seeing how potent is the influence of associated
ideas, it is perhaps a matter for wonder that such mis-
carriages do not more often occur. It should be stated
that, beyond their rarity, there is no special reason to
mistrust stories of this type. Their distinguishing
feature is not apparently of a kind which appeals
readily to the imagination. Indeed, by most persons
the want of precise correspondence would probably be
regarded as a serious blemish in the story. Certainly
cases of the kind occur rarely, if at all, among second-
hand and traditional narratives.

Heteroplastic Hallucinations.

But another possible explanation of the incident
suggests itself. It has already been conjectured that
in some cases of hallucination or other impression,
the percipient's vision may have originated not in the
mind of the person primarily concerned, but in that
of some bystander. 1 Conversely, the image seen in
the narrative just cited may have been flashed directly
from the dying woman's mind. In the case which
follows a picture of the past preserved in the memory
of one of two friends appears to have been spontane-
ously transferred to the mind of the other.

The case was sent to Dr. Hodgson on the i8th
May 1888, and was published in the Arena for
February 1889.

1 See, for instance, Nos. 47, 75, 87, etc.

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 305

No. 90. From MRS. G-

". . . For nearly two weeks I have had a lady friend visiting
us from Chicago, and last Sunday we tried the cards and in
every instance I told the colour and kind ; but only two or three
times was enabled to give the exact number. . . .

" I must write you of something that occurred last night. After
this lady, whom I have mentioned above, had retired, and
almost immediately after we had extinguished the light, there
suddenly appeared before me a beautiful lawn and coming
toward me a chubby, yellow-haired little boy, and by his side a
brown dog which closely resembled a fox. The dog had on a
brass collar and the child's hand was under the collar just as if
he was leading or pulling the dog. The vision was like a flash,
came and went in an instant. I immediately told my friend, and
she said, 'Do you know where there are any matches?' and
began to hurriedly clamber out of bed. I struck a light, she
plunged into her trunk, brought out a book, and pasted in the
front was a picture of her little boy and his dog. They were
not in the same position that I saw them, but the dog looked
exceedingly familiar. Her little boy passed into the beyond
about four years ago. . ."

Mrs. F. corroborates as follows :

11 May i8/^, 1888.

" I wish to corroborate the statements of Mrs. N, G. relative
to ... and her wonderful vision of my little boy, and my old
home. Mrs. G. never saw the place, or the little child, and
never even heard of the peculiar-looking dog, which was my
little son's constant companion out of doors. She never saw
the photograph, which was pasted in the back of my Bible and
packed away.

"(Signed) I. F."

In this case, it will be noted, the vision was the
direct sequel of some partially successful experiments
in thought-transference ; and the transferred impres-
sion fell short of actual hallucination. In the
following case there is no evidence of any special
rapport between the percipient and the person who,
on this hypothesis, acted as the agent ; and the per-
cipient's impression, took the form of a completely
externalised hallucination.

20

306 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

No. 91. From FRANCES REDDELL.

" ANTONY, TORPOINT,

December I4/7/, 1882.

" Helen Alexander (maid to Lady Waldegrave) was lying
here very ill with typhoid fever, and was attended by me. I
was standing at the table by her bedside, pouring out her
medicine, at about four o'clock in the morning of the 4th
October 1880. I heard the call-bell ring (this had been heard
twice before during the night in that same week), and was
attracted by the door of the room opening, and by seeing a
person entering the room whom I instantly felt to be the mother
of the sick woman. She had a brass candlestick in her hand, a
red shawl over her shoulders, and a flannel petticoat on which
had a hole in the front. I looked at her as much as to say, *I
am glad you have come,' but the woman looked at me sternly,
as much as to say, ' Why wasn't I sent for before? ' I gave the
medicine to Helen Alexander, and then turned round to speak
to the vision, but no one was there. She had gone. She was a
short, dark person, and very stout. At about six o'clock that
morning Helen Alexander died. Two days after, her parents
and a sister came to Antony, and arrived between one and two
o'clock in the morning ; I and another maid let them in, and it
gave me a great turn when I saw the living- likeness of the
vision I had seen two nights before. I told the sister about the
vision, and she said that the description of the dress exactly
answered to her mother's, and that they had brass candlesticks
at home exactly like the one described. There was not the
slightest resemblance between the mother and daughter.

" FRANCES REDDELL."

Frances Reddell fortunately described her vision to
her mistress, Mrs. Pole-Carew, of Antony, Torpoint,
Devonport, within a few hours of its occurrence, and
before her encounter with the original. Mrs. Pole-
Carew writes as follows :

" $\st December 1883.

" In October 1880, Lord and Lady Waldegrave came with
their Scotch maid, Helen Alexander, to stay with us. [The
account then describes how Helen was discovered to have caught
typhoid fever, and pending the arrival of a regular nurse, was
nursed for several days by Frances Reddell. On the Sunday
week, Mrs. Pole-Carew continues], I allowed Reddell to sit up
with Helen again that night, to give her the medicine and food,
which were to be taken constantly. At &bout 4.30 that night, or
rather Monday morning, Reddell looked at her watch, poured

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 307

out the medicine, and was bending over the bed to give it to
Helen when the call-bell in the passage rang. She said to herself,
* There's that tiresome bell with the wire caught again/ (It
seems it did occasionally ring of itself in this manner.) At that
moment, however, she heard the door open, and looking round,
saw a very stout old woman walk in. She was dressed in a
nightgown and red flannel petticoat, and carried an old-fashioned
brass candlestick in her hand. The petticoat had a hole rubbed
in it. She walked into the room and appeared to be going
towards the dressing-table to put her candle down. She was
a perfect stranger to Reddell, who, however, merely thought,
' This is her mother come to see after her,' and she felt quite
glad it was so, accepting the idea without reasoning upon it, as
one would in a dream. She thought the mother looked annoyed,
possibly at not having been sent for before. She then gave
Helen the medicine, and turning round, found that the appari-
tion had disappeared, and that the door was shut. A great
change, meanwhile, had taken place in Helen, and Reddell
fetched me, who sent off for the doctor, and meanwhile applied
hot poultices, etc., but Helen died a little before the doctor
came. She was quite conscious up to about half-an-hour before
she died, when she seemed to be going to sleep.
^ " During the early days of her illness Helen had written to a
sister, mentioning her being unwell, but making nothing of it,
and as she never mentioned any one but this sister, it was
supposed by the household, to whom she was a perfect stranger,
that she had no other relation alive. Reddell was always
offering to write for her, but she always declined, saying there
was no need, she would write herself in a day or two. No one
at home, therefore, knew anything of her being so ill, and it is,
therefore, remarkable that her mother, a far from nervous
person, should have said that evening going up to bed, ' I am
sure Helen is very ill.'

" Reddell told me and my daughter of the apparition, about
an hour after Helen's death, prefacing with, 'I am not super-
stitious or nervous, and I wasn't the least frightened, but her
mother came last night,' and she then told the story, giving a
careful description of the figure she had seen. The relations
were asked to come to the funeral, and the father, mother, and
sister came, and in the mother Reddell recognised the apparition,
as I did also, for Reddell's description had been most accurate,
even to the expression, which she had ascribed to annoyance, but
which was due to deafness. It was judged best not to speak
about it to the mother, but Reddell told the sister, who said the
description of the figure corresponded exactly with the probable
appearance of her mother if roused in the night ; that they had
exactly such a candlestick at home, and that there was a hole
in her mother's petticoat produced by the way she always

305 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

wore it. It seems curious that neither Helen nor her mother
appeared to be aware of the visit. Neither of them, at any rate,
ever spoke of having seen the other, nor even of having dreamt
of having done so.

"F. A. POLE-CAREW."

[Frances Reddell states that she has never had any hallucin-
ation, or any odd experience of any kind, except on this one
occasion. The Hon. Mrs. Lyttelton, of Selwyn College,
Cambridge, who knows her, tells us that "she appears to be a
most matter-of-fact person, and was apparently most impressed
by the fact that she saw a hole in the mother's flannel petticoat,
made by the busk of her stays, reproduced in the apparition."]

The simplest explanation of this incident, and that
which involves the least departure from known forms
of telepathy, is that the figure seen by Frances Redclell
was due to thought-transference from the mind of the
dying girl. And this explanation has some direct
evidence in its favour. There is, of course, abundant
proof of the transference from agent to percipient of
a real or imaginary scene. (See the cases described
in Chapters II., III., XIV., and XV.) But in these
cases the percipient's impressions appear rarely to
have risen to the level of hallucination, and in the
absence of direct evidence it would not perhaps have
been safe to assume that a detailed impression, such
as a scene or a human figure, transferred from
another mind, would be capable of taking complete
sensory embodiment in the mind of the percipient.
The frequency, however, of collective hallucinations
of an apparently casual character seems to require
such an assumption (see ante, p. 273). Moreover,
a case has been recorded (Proc. S.P.R., vol.
vi. pp. 434, 435) in which a hypnotically induced
hallucination appears to have been reproduced in
another hypnotised subject by telepathic suggestion
from the original percipient. In the experiments
recorded by Dr. Gibotteau (pp. 368, 369) the ideas
mentally suggested by him appear in some cases to
have assumed a hallucinatory form in the subject ;
and, finally, Wesermann (Chapter X.,p. 233),in his fifth

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 309

experiment succeeded in calling up a recognisable
hallucination of a lady personally unknown to the
percipients. We have, therefore, experimental parallels
for our suggested interpretation of Frances Reddell's
experience ; and when once the possibility of thought-
transference in this form is recognised, many so-called
" ghosts " or phantasms of the dead find a simple and
satisfactory explanation. The following case may be
instanced :

No. 92. From MR. JOHN E. HUSBANDS, Melbourne
House, Town Hall Square, Grimsby.

"September i$th, 1886.

" The facts are simply these. I was sleeping- in a hotel in
Madeira in January 1885. It was a bright moonlight night.
The windows were open and the blinds up. I felt some one was
in my room. On opening my eyes, I saw a young fellow about
twenty-five, dressed in flannels, standing at the side of my bed
and pointing with the first finger of his right hand to the place I
was lying in. I lay for some seconds to convince myself of some
one being really there. I then sat up and looked at him. I
saw his features so plainly that I recognised them in a photo-
graph which was shown me some days after. I asked him what
he wanted ; he did not speak, but his eyes and hand seemed to
tell me I was in his place. As he did not answer, I struck out
at him with my fist as I sat up, but did not reach him, and as
I was going to spring out of bed he slowly vanished through
the door, which was shut, keeping his eyes upon me all the
time.

" Upon inquiry I found that the young fellow who appeared
to me died in that room I was occupying.

" If I can tell you anything more I shall be glad to, if it
interests you.

"JOHN E. HUSBANDS."

The following letters are from Miss Falkner, of
Church Terrace, Wisbech, who was resident at the
hotel when the above incident happened :

"OctoberWi, 1886.

" The figure that Mr. Husbands saw while in Madeira was
that of a young fellow who died unexpectedly months previously,
in the room which Mr. Husbands was occupying. Curiously
enough, Mr. H. had never heard of him or his death. He told

310 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

me the story the morning after he had seen the figure, and
I recognised the young fellow from the description. It
impressed me very much, but I did not mention it to him or
any one. I loitered about until I heard Mr. Husbands tell the
same tale to my brother ; we left Mr. H. and said simul-
taneously, * He has seen Mr. D.'

" No more was said on the subject for days; then I abruptly
showed the photograph.

" Mr. Husbands said at once, 'This is the young fellow who
appeared to me the other night, but he was dressed differently'
describing a dress he often wore 'cricket suit (or tennis)
fastened at the neck with sailor knot.' I must say that Mr.
Husbands is a most practical man, and the very last one would
expect 'a spirit' to visit.

"K. FALKNER."

" October 2ot/t, 1886.

" I enclose you photograph and an extract from my sister-in-
law's letter, which I received this morning, as it will verify my
statement. Mr. Husbands saw the figure either the 3rd or 4th
of February 1885.

" The people who had occupied the rooms had never told us
if they had seen anything, so we may conclude they had not.

"K. FALKNER."

The following is Miss Falkner's copy of the passage
in the letter:

" You will see at back of Mr. du F 's photo the date of

his decease [January 2c;th, 1884]; and if you recollect 'the
Motta Marques' had his rooms from the February till the May
or June of 1884, then Major Money at the commencement of
1885 season. Mr. Husbands had to take the room on February
2nd, 1 885, as his was wanted.

" I am clear on all this, and remember his telling me the
incident when he came to see my baby."

At a personal interview Mr. Gurney learnt that Mr.
Husbands had never had any other hallucination of
the senses. (Proc. S.P.R. y vo\. v. p. 416.)

It is, of course, conceivable that before his experi-
ence Mr. Husbands may have heard of the death of
Mr. D. and have forgotten the circumstance. But
this supposition will hardly account for the recogni-
tion of the photograph. In any c,ase, however, there

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 31!

can be no justification for invoking other than
terrestrial agencies to explain the vision. Until such
agencies are proved inadequate to account for the
facts a narrative of this kind can scarcely be held to
raise a presumption, much less to afford a proof, of
the action of the dead. Miss Falkner and her brother
had known the dead man; no fact about him was
communicated which was not within their knowledge;
and there is nothing to negative the supposition that
some echo of their thoughts or dreams may have
given rise to the vision. A very similar case is
quoted in the same volume (Proc^ vol. v. p. 418).
Mr. D. M. Tyre, of St. Andrews Road, Pollokshields,
Glasgow, stayed for some time in a lonely house in
Dumbartonshire. On several occasions during their
occupancy of the house Miss L. Tyre saw the figure
of an old woman lying on the bed in the kitchen.
The figure lay with the face turned to the wall, and
the legs drawn up as if from cold. On her head
was a "sow-backed mutch," i.e., a white frilled cap
of a peculiar shape common in the Highlands. The
others who were present did not see the figure. It
was subsequently ascertained from a neighbour that
the description given correctly represented the dress
and attitude of a former occupant of the house, who
had died there some years before under painful cir-
cumstances. M. Richet (Proc., vol. v. p. 148) gives an
account of some spiritualist stances at which the
promise was given that his grandfather, M. Charles
Renouard, would appear. A figure resembling M.
Charles Renouard was actually seen some days later,
not by any of those present at the sdance, but by an
English lady staying in the house, who was believed
to know nothing of the expected apparition.

A similar explanation may perhaps apply to the
following account, which was communicated verbally
to Mr. Myers on the 1 2th October 1888 by the
percipient, Mr. J., a gentleman well known in the
scientific world. Mr. Myers explains that the account

312 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

which follows was written out by him from his notes
of the conversation, and was subsequently revised and
corrected by Mr. J. himself.

No. 93. From MR, J.

" In 1880 I succeeded a Mr. Q. as librarian of the X. Library.
I had never seen Mr. Q., nor any photograph or likeness of
him, when the following incidents occurred. I may, of course,
have heard the library assistants describe his appearance,
though I have no recollection of this. I was sitting alone in
the library one evening late in March 1884, finibhing some
work after hours, when it suddenly occurred to me that I should
miss the last train to H., where I was then living, if I did not
make haste. It was then 10.55, and the last train left X. at
11.5. I gathered up some books in one hand, took the lamp in
the other, and prepared to leave the librarian's room, which
communicated by a passage with the main room of the library.
As my lamp illumined this passage, I saw apparently at the
further end of it a man's face. I instantly thought a thief had
got into the library. This was by no means impossible, and
the probability of it had occurred to me before. I turned back
into my room, put down the books, and took a revolver from
the safe, and, holding the lamp cautiously behind me, I made
my way along the passage which had a corner, behind which
I thought my thief might be lying in wait into the main room.
Here I saw no one, but the room was large and encumbered
with bookcases. I called out loudly to the intruder to show
himself several times, more with the hope of attracting a passing
policeman than of drawing the intruder. Then I saw a face
looking round one of the bookcases. I say looking round^ but
it had an odd appearance as if the body were in the bookcase,
as the face came so closely to the edge and I could see no body.
The face was pallid and hairless, and the orbits of the eyes
were very deep. I advanced towards it, and as I did so I saw
an old man with high shoulders seem to rotate out of the end of
the bookcase, and with his back towards me and with a shuffling
gait walk rather quickly from the bookcase to the door of a
small lavatory, which openedJrom the library and had no other
access. I heard no noise. I followed the man at once into the
lavatory ; and to my extreme surprise found no one there. I
examined the window (about 14 in. x 12 in.), and found it closed
and fastened. I opened it and looked out. It opened into a
well, the bottom of which, 10 feet below, was a sky-light, and the
top open to the sky some 20 feet above. It was in the middle
of the building, and no one could have dropped into it without
smashing the glass nor climbed out of it without a ladder but

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 313

no one was there. Nor had there been anything like time for
a man to get out of the window, as I followed the intruder
instantly. Completely mystified, I even looked into the little
cupboard under the fixed basin. There was nowhere hiding for
a child, and I confess I began to experience for the first time
what novelists describe as an ' eerie 5 feeling.

" I left the library, and found I had missed my train.

"Next morning I mentioned what I had seen to a local
clergyman, who, on hearing my description, said, * Why, that's
old Q. ! ' Soon after I saw a photograph (from a drawing) of
Q., and the resemblance was certainly striking. Q. had lost all
his hair, eyebrows and all, from (I believe) a gunpowder acci-
dent. His walk was a peculiar, rapid, high-shouldered shuffle.

" Later inquiry proved he had died at about the time of year
at which I saw the figure." (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. p. 57.)

Mr. J. states that he has seen but one other
hallucination, a figure representing his mother, which
appeared to him at the time of the birth of one of his
sisters.

A hallucination of another kind was seen independ-
ently in the same library by Mr. R., the principal
assistant, and a clerk, Mr, P. Mr. R. writes in
1889:

"A few years ago I was engaged in a large building in

the , and during the busy times was often there till late in

the evening. On one particular night I was at work along with
a junior clerk till about n P.M., in the room marked A on the
annexed sketch. All the lights in the place had been out for
hours except those in the room which we occupied. Before
leaving, we turned out the gas. We then looked into the fire-
place, but not a spark was to be seen. The night was very
dark, but being thoroughly accustomed to the place we carried
no light. On reaching the bottom of the staircase (B), I
happened to look up ; when, to my surprise, the room which we
had just left appeared to be lighted. I turned to my companion
and pointed out the light, and sent him back to see what was
wrong. He went at once and I stood looking through the open
door, but I was not a little astonished to see that as soon as he
got within a few yards of the room the light went put quite
suddenly. My companion, from the position he was in at the
moment, could not see the light go out, but on his reaching the
door everything was in total darkness. He entered, however,
and when he returned, reported that both gas and fire were
completely out. The light in the daytime was got by means of
a glass roof, there being no windows on the sides of the room,

314 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

and the night in question was so dark that the moon shining
through the roof was out of the question. Although I have
often been in the same room till long after dark, both before
and since, I have never seen anything unusual at any other
time."

Mr. P. endorses this :
" I confirm the foregoing statement."

In subsequent letters Mr. R. says :

"The bare facts are as stated, being neither more nor less
than what took place. I have never on any other occasion had
any hallucination of the senses, and I think you will find the
same to be the case with Mr. P."

This incident took place after Mr. J.'s vision, but Mr.
J. had mentioned his own experience only to his wife
and one other friend, and no hint of it appears to have
reached the assistants in the library, so that the two
visions would appear to have been independent.

To extend the theory of thought-transference from
living minds to cover a case such as that just quoted
may seem to some extravagant But if there is any-
thing beyond chance in the occurrence and it would
be a very remarkable coincidence that three persons
should independently be the subject of hallucination
in the same house, and that one of the hallucinations
should resemble a former occupant of the house,
unknown to the percipient some explanation is re-
quired, and an explanation which involves no novel
or unproved agency is, ceteris paribus, to be preferred.
As regards the apparently local character of the
visitation, Mr. Gurney has suggested, with regard to
some cases quoted in Phantasms of the Living -(vol. ii.
pp. 267-269), where the link between agent and per-
cipient appears to have been of a local and not of
a personal character, that a similarity of immediate
mental content between the percipient and agent
may have been the condition of the telepathic action.
In the ordinary case of an apparition, e.g., of a dying
mother to her son, the condition ot the appearance to

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 315

that particular percipient rather than to the man in
the street should on this hypothesis be sought in the
community of intellectual and emotional experiences
which may be presumed to exist between near
relatives who have passed a large part of their lives
in the same environment. In the cases now under
consideration the substitute for such far-reaching
community is to be found in the transitory occupa-
tion of both percipient and agent the one in present
sensation, the other in memory with the same scene.
Such partial community of perception, by a kind
of extended association of ideas, tends under the
hypothesis towards more complete community, and
the agent thus imports into the sensorium of the
percipient the image of his own or some other's
presence in the scene which forms part of the present
content of both minds. On this view Mr. J. saw the
figure of Mr. Q. in the library, because some friend
of Mr. Q.'s was at that moment vividly picturing to
himself the late librarian in his old haunts.

Cases, such as the three last quoted, of the solitary
appearance of a phantasmal figure, subsequently
identified by description, photograph, or as in
Frances Reddell's case actual encounter with the
original, arc rare; and experience shows how easy it
may be for the somewhat vague image preserved
in the memory to take on definite form and colour
during the process, occasionally prolonged, of
"recognition." The type cannot, therefore, be
regarded as well established. As, however, such
narratives have in some instances been regarded as
affording evidence of the action of disembodied
spirits, it seemed well to suggest that, if the facts are
accepted, they are susceptible of another interpreta-
tion.

Haunted Houses.

But there are numerous cases to which the hypo-
thesis of telepathic infection may be applied with

3 16 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

perhaps less hesitation. The form which so-called
"ghost stories" most commonly assume is the
appearance of an unrecognised phantasmal figure.
When the appearance is to one person only, or when,
in the intervals of its appearance to others, the matter
has been freely discussed amongst the members of
the household, and the details of the figure described,
we should probably be justified, on the analogy of
hypnotic and epidemic religious hallucinations, in re-
garding the original appearance as purely subjective
and the later ones as due to verbal suggestion and
expectancy. But there are cases where, from the
definite statements of the witnesses and the surround-
ing circumstances, it appears at all events extremely
improbable that any mention was made of the
original hallucination. In such cases it seems per-
missible to conjecture that the later apparitions, or
some of them, may have been due to telepathic
suggestion from the original percipient, to whom his
solitary experience would naturally be a subject of
frequent and vivid reflection.

I received the following account from the ladies
concerned after a personal interview with one of
them on February 2;th, 1889, ' m tne course of
which I examined the scene of the apparition, the
landing of a moderate-sized London house. The
landing, though narrow, is well lighted, and it seems
impossible that the appearance could have been a
real person. The first experience, it will be seen,
is a collective hallucination, of a type discussed in
the preceding chapter.

No. 94. From MRS. KNOTT.

" LONDON, S.W.,

March $//*, 1889.

"The incident I relate occurred at this address early in Febru-
ary 1889. I have lived in this house foii years, and constantly
felt another presence was in the drawing-room besides myself,

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 317

but never saw any form until last month. My cousin Mrs. R.
and myself returned from a walk at 1.30 P.M. The front door
was opened for us by my housekeeper, Mrs. E. I passed up-
stairs before my cousin, and on turning to my bedroom, the door
of which is beside the drawing-room door [*'.*., at right angles to
it], I saw, as I thought, Mrs. E. go into the drawing-room. I
put a parcel into my room and then followed her to give some
order, and found the room empty ! My cousin was going up
the second flight of staiis to her room, and I called out, ' Did
you open the drawing-room door as you passed?' 'No,' she
replied, ' Mrs. E. has gone in.' Mrs. R. had seen the figure more
distinctly than I ; it seemed to pass her at the top of the stairs,
and she thought, l How quietly Mrs. E. moves! *I inquired of
Mrs. E. what she did after opening the door for us, and she
said, 4 Went to the kitchen to hasten luncheon, as you were in a
hurry for it.' The day was bright, and there is nothing on the
stairs that could cast a shadow. I quite hope some day I may
see the face of the figure."

From MRS. R., Malpas, Cheshire.

"March ist, 1889.

" In answer to your letter on the subject of the figure seen
at C. Terrace, Mrs. K. and I had just come in at about half-past
one o'clock. Mrs. E. (the housekeeper) had opened the door.
We went upstairs, and on the first landing are two rooms, one
the drawing-room, the other Mrs. K.'s bedroom. She went into
her room while I stood a minute or two talking to her. Just as
I turned to go up the next flight of stairs I thought I saw Mrs.
E. pass me quickly and go into the drawing-room. Beyond
seeing a slight figure in a dark dress I saw nothing more, for
I did not look at it, but just saw it pass me. Before I
got upstairs Mrs. K. called out, ' Did you leave the drawing-
room door open ? ' I answered, ' I did not go in ; I saw Mrs.
E. go in^ Mrs. K. answered, * There is nobody there.' We
asked Mrs. E. if she had been up ; she, on the contrary, had
gone straight down. Also, as she said, she would not have
passed me on the landing, but have waited until I had gone
upstairs ; and as it struck me afterwards, she could not have
passed me on such a small landing without touching me, but
I never noticed that at the time. I do not know if a thought
ever embodies itself, but my idea was, and is, that as Mrs. E.
ran downstairs her thought went up, wondering if the drawing-
room fire was burning brightly. The figure I saw went into the
room as if it had a purpose of some sort. I have never seen
anything of the sort before."

3 1 8 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

In a later letter Mrs. R. adds :

" March loth, 1889.

" I am afraid I cannot give any very definite reply to your
questions.

"(i) * Had I any idea of the house being haunted?' No; and
I do not think it is supposed to be haunted. Mrs. K. has said
that at times it has seemed to her as if there was some one else
in the room beside herself, but I think that is a feeling that has
come to most people some time or other.

"(2) 'Did we see it simultaneously?' That I cannot exactly
say, but I should think yes, for we neither of us said anything
until Mrs. K. called out to me to know if I had been in the
drawing-room,"

In commenting on the story in November 1889
(Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. p. 250), I wrote, " Here we may
almost see the story of a haunted house in the mak-
ing. The essential elements are there. We have the
visionary figure seen by two persons at once, and the
mysterious feeling of an alien presence in the room.
It is quite possible that the latter circumstance would
have passed unrecorded, and even unnoticed, but for
the subsequent phantasm, through which it gained a
retrospective importance." My comments have met
with unexpected justification. On April 7th, 1893,
Mrs. Knott again wrote to me as follows :

"On Saturday, the iSth March, at 1.50 P.M., Mrs. H. and I
were going upstairs to the drawing-room, she first, I following
with some flowers, not looking up. I heard her say, ' Mrs. E.,
don't go down until you have seen my screen.' (Mrs. H. had
just finished painting one.) I said, ' Mrs. E. isn't here.' Mrs.
H. replied, 'Yes, she is in the drawing-room.' Then I heard
her say, * Where has the woman gone ? J for no one was visible
in the room, and Mrs. H. said she distinctly saw a figure go in,
and felt sure it was Mrs. E. This is exactly the same impres-
sion that Mrs. R. and I had when we each saw the figure go
into the drawing-room four years ago, in February, and it was
about the same hour of the day."

In a later letter Mrs. Knott explains that Mrs. H.
had heard of the earlier apparition on the same spot,
but adds that the story " most certainly did not stay

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 319

in her mind." We shall probably be justified in
assuming, however, that Mrs. H/s hallucinatory ex-
perience was due to a subconscious reminiscence of
her friend's ghost-story.

In the case which follows, however, there is strong
evidence that the phantasms were seen independently
by each percipient. The narrators are unwilling that
their names or that of the house should appear. Mr.
Gurney, however, fully discussed the circumstances
with them at a personal interview.

No. 95. From MRS. W.

"February IQ///, 1885.
" In June 1 88 1 we went to live in a detached villa just out of

the town of C . Our household consisted of my husband

and myself, my step-daughter, and two little boys, aged nine
and six, and two female servants. The house was between ten
and twenty years old. We had been there about three weeks,

SKETCH PLAN OF THE GROUND-FLOOR OF THE HOUSE.

Dining-room

Kitchen

Front
I C Drawing-room

t __!

A

Hack
Drau mg room

A Piano. B First position of figure. C Second position of figure.

D Garden door. E Baize door. F Front door and porch.

G Front gate.

when, about n o'clock-one morning, as I was playing the piano
in the drawing-room, I had the following experience: I was

32O APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

suddenly aware of a figure peeping round the corner of the
folding-doors to my left; thinking it must be a visitor, I jumped
up and went into the passage, but no one was there, and the
hall door, which was half glass, was shut. I only saw the
upper half of the figure, which was that of a tall man, with
a very pale face and dark hair and moustache. The impression
lasted only a second or two, but I saw the face so distinctly that
to this day I should recognise it if I met it in a crowd. It had
a sorrowful expression. It was impossible for any one to come
into the house without being seen or heard. I was startled,
but not the least frightened. I had heard no report what-
ever as to the house being haunted ; and am certainly not
given to superstitious fancies. I did not mention my ex-
perience to any one at the time, and formed no theory about
it. In the following August, one evening about 8.30, I had
occasion to go into the drawing-room to get something out
of the cupboard, when, on turning round, I saw the same face
in the bay-window, in front of the shutters, which were closed.
I again saw only the upper part of the figure, which seemed to
be in a somewhat crouching posture. The light on this occasion
came from the hall and the dining-room, and did not shine
directly on the window; but I was able perfectly to distinguish
the face and the expression of the eyes. This time I was
frightened, and mentioned the matter to my husband the same
evening. I then also told him of my first experience. On each
of these occasions I was from 8 to 10 feet distant from the
figure.

" Later in the same month I was playing cricket in the garden
with my little boys. From my position at the wickets I could
see right into the house through an open door, down a passage,
and through the hall as far as the front door. The kitchen
door opened into the passage. I distinctly saw the same face
peeping round at me out of the kitchen door. I again only saw
the upper half of the figure. I threw down the bat and ran in.
No one was in the kitchen. One servant was out, and I found
that the other was up in her bedroom. I mentioned this
incident at once to my husband, who also examined the kitchen
without any result.

" A little later in the year, about 8 o'clock one evening, I was
coming downstairs alone, when I heard a voice from the
direction, apparently, of my little boys' bedroom, the door of
which was open. It distinctly said, in a deep sorrowful tone,
* I can't find it.' I called out to my little boys, but they did
not reply, and I have not the slightest doubt that they were
asleep ; they always called out if they heard me upstairs. My
step-daughter, who was downstairs in the dining-room with the
door open, also heard the voice, and thiriking it was me calling,
cried out, 'What are you looking for?' We were extremely

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. $21

\ /

puzzled. The voice could not by any possibility have belonged
to any member of the household. The servants were in the
kitchen, and my husband was out.

"A short time after I was again coming downstairs after
dark in the evening when I felt a sharp slap on the back. It
startled but did not hurt me. There was no one near me,
and I ran downstairs and told my husband and my step-
daughter.

" I have never in my life, on any other occasion, had any
hallucination of sight, hearing, or touch."

The following is Miss W.'s account :

"February IQ/^, 1885.

" In July, 1881, I was sitting playing the piano in our house

in C , about 11.30 in the morning, when I saw the head and

shoulders of a man peeping round the folding-doors, in just
the same way as they had appeared to my mother, but I had
not at that time heard of her experience. I jumped up, and
advanced, thinking it was an acquaintance from a few yards off.
This impression, however, only lasted for a second ; the face
disappeared, but recalling it, I perceived at once that it was
certainly not that of the gentleman whom I had for a second
thought of. The resemblance was only that they were both
dark. The face was pale and melancholy, and the hair very
dark. I at once went to Mrs. W. in the dining-room, and asked
if anyone had called. She said, 'No'; and I then told her
what I had seen. I then for the first time heard from her what
she had seen, and our descriptions completely agreed. We had
even both noticed that the hair was parted in the middle, and
that a good deal of shirt-front showed.

"A few weeks later, about n P.M., Mrs. W. and I were play-
ing bezique in the dining-room. Mr. W. was out, and the
servants had gone to bed. The door of the room was open, and
I was facing it. I suddenly had an impression that some one
was looking at me, and I looked up. There was the same face,
and the upper half of the figure, peeping round into the room
from the hall. I said, 'There's the man again ! ' Mrs. W.
rushed to the door, but there was no one in the hall or passage ;
the front cloor was locked, and the green baize door which com-
municated with the back part of the house was shut. The
figure had been on the side of the dining-room door nearest to
the front door, and could not have got to the green baize door
without passing well in our sight. We were a good deal
frightened, and we mentioned the occurrence to Mr. W. on
his return. He went all over the house as usual before going

21

322 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

to bed, and all* windows were fastened, and everything in
order.

" A few weeks after this, about 1 1.30 A.M., I was upstairs play-
ing battledore and shuttlecock with my eldest brother in his bed-
room. The door was open. Stepping back in the course of the
game, I got out on to the landing ; I looked sideways over my
shoulder, in order to strike the shuttlecock, and suddenly saw
the same face as before, and my brother called out at the same
moment, ' There's a man on the landing.' I was startled myself,
but to reassure the child I said there was no one that he had
made a mistake and shut the door and went on with the game.
I told my father and Mrs. W. of this as soon as I saw them.

" Later in the autumn I was sitting alone in the dining-room
one evening, with the door open. Mrs. W. had been upstairs,
and I heard her coming down. Suddenly I heard a deep,
melancholy voice say, ' I can't find it.' I called out, ' What are
you looking for?' At the same time the voice was not the least
like Mrs. W.'s. She then came in and told me she had heard
exactly the same thing. My father was out at the time, but we
told him of the circumstance on his return.

" In September of 1882 I was for a week in the house with
only the two children and the servants. It was about 7.30 on
Sunday evening, and nearly dark. The others were all out in
the garden. I was standing at the dining-room window, when
I caught a glimpse of a tall man's figure slipping into the porch.
I must have seen if anybody had approached the porch by the
path from the front gate, and I should certainly have heard the
latch of the gate, which used to make a considerable noise, and
I should also have heard footsteps on the gravel-path. The
figure appeared quite suddenly; it had on a tall hat. I was very
much astonished, but ran to the door, thinking it might possibly
be my father. No one was there; I went to the gate, and
looked up and down the road. No one was in sight, and there
was no possibility that anybody could have got so suddenly out
of view.

" I have never at any other time in my life had any hallucina-
tion whatever, either of sight or hearing.

" I remember Mrs. W. telling me of her experience of the
slap as soon as she came downstairs.

" I ought to add that at the time when we were negotiating
about the house, the landlady of the lodgings where my father
and I were staying told me that all the villas of the row in
which our house was situated, ten in number, were haunted. I
was with my father when I heard this. Mrs. W. was not with
us. I am certain that the remark made no impression what-
ever on me, and that it did not even recur to my mind till I saw
what I have described. I did not everf mention the remark to
Mrs. W."

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 323
Mrs. W. adds

" I distinctly remember my step-daughter coming to me
immediately after her first sight of the figure, and telling me
about it. I then told her for the first time of my own experi-
ence (I had then only had one), and our descriptions completely
tallied. I distinctly remember our agreeing about the parting
of the hair in the middle, and about the amount of white shirt-
front. We could neither of us remember whether his tie was
white or black. We agreed that we should know the face if we
ever met it. And subsequently, at an evening party, we both
pitched on the same individual as more like our strange visitor
than any one else we knew. The resemblance, however, was
not extremely close.

" I distinctly remember, also, my step-daughter exclaiming,
* There's that man again!' when we were playing bzique. I
rushed at once into the hall and found the door closed as
she has described.

" I also remember her telling me at once about what she had
seen, and what her brother had exclaimed when they were
playing at battledore and shuttlecock.

" She told me about what she had seen in the porch when
Mr. W. and I returned from town on the next (Monday)
morning."

The following is Surgeon-Major W.'s confirma-
tion :

" I was told of these various occurrences by my wife and
daughter at the times which they have specified. I only heard
from my wife of her first experience after she had told me of
her second. After she had seen the figure during the game of
cricket, I went into the kitchen, but found everything as usual.
On my return home, after my daughter's seeing the figure
peeping round the dining-room door, I went all over the
premises as my custom was, and found windows secured and
everything in order.

" My wife and daughter are as unlikely as any one I know to
suffer from causeless frights. They are completely free from
nervousness, and though these experiences were startling and
bewildering to them, they did not in the least worry themselves
in consequence.

" It seems possible that the voice may have been that of one
of the children talking in sleep, and the slap some effect of
imagination, but it is not easy to account for the apparitions by
any such known causes."

324 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

In this case it seems unlikely that Mrs. W., the
original percipient, was mistaken in supposing that
she had not mentioned her first experience, and that
Miss W. was also mistaken in her statement that she
had not heard of what Mrs. W. had seen until after
the apparition to herself. And it is still more unlikely
that either lady would have allowed any hint of the
matter to reach the ears of the children. Whilst,
therefore, in the absence of contemporary notes, or of
any identification of the figure, the degree of resem-
blance between the apparitions seen by the two ladies
may have been exaggerated, we are still confronted
with the problem that three persons living in the same
house are credibly reported to have seen independ-
ently the hallucinatory figure of a man, and that in
the two instances in which the apparitions were com-
pared they were found to exhibit certain resemblances.
That the first figure was a subjective hallucination,
and that the later apparitions were reproductions of
that hallucination by means of telepathic suggestion,
is a solution which is, at any rate, worthy of considera-
tion. We have in our records many cases of the kind,
in which hallucinatory figures, in some cases pre-
senting strong resemblances, are alleged to have been
seen by two or more independent witnesses in the
same house or locality. Thus we have accounts from
Miss Kathleen Leigh Hunt, Miss Laurence, and Mr.
Paul Bird, of a woman's figure seen independently by
each of them in 1881 (Proc. S.P.R., vol. iii. pp. 106 et
seq^). In another case (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. pp. 270 et
seq^) a doctor in a provincial town, his two daughters,
and a young lady visitor saw the figure of a young
child. In other cases different hallucinatory figures
have been seen independently by successive occupants
of the same house, the later percipients appearing not
to have heard of the earlier apparitions. Thus we
have accounts of figures seen during the period from
1861 to 1875 by three different families in an old
Elizabethan manor-house (Proc. S.P.R., vol. iii. p. 1 18);

LESS COMMON TYPES OF HALLUCINATION. 325

and in a quite modern house in the South of England
various phantasmal figures were seen between 1882
and 1888 by two successive sets of occupants. (Proc.
S.P.R., vol. vi. pp. 256 et seqy]

1 Those desiring to study further the evidence on this subject are
referred to the paper on " Phantasms of the Dead," Proc. S.P.R.,
vol. iii., by Mrs. Henry Sidgwick, and the papers on "Recognised
Apparitions occurring after Death," and on " Phantasms of the Dead,"
by Messrs. Gurney, Myers, and the present writer respectively, in Proc.
v. and vi., and the "Record of a Haunted House," in Proc. viii. Many
cases of the kind are also printed in the monthly journal of the Society;
and there are one or two striking cases in the Annales dcs Sciences
Psychiques,

326

CHAPTER XIV,

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE.

THE word " clairvoyance " was used by the older
mesmerists to denote somewhat heterogeneous pheno-
mena. It was applied in the first place to a supposed
faculty by which the subject was enabled to ascertain
facts not within human knowledge, 1 and in the second
place to a power of discerning facts within the know-
ledge of some living mind. Of " clairvoyance " in the
first sense there is not at present so much evidence as
need cause hesitation in appropriating the name for
other uses ; and it is obvious that if such a faculty
could be shown to exist, a discussion of it would find
no place in a work which treats only of the affec-
tion of one human mind by another. But we have
abundant evidence of clairvoyance in the second
sense, that is, of a form of telepathy in which the

1 For instance, Gregory and others record that the clairvoyant sub-
jects of a certain Major Buckley were able to read the mottoes enclosed
in nuts (the equivalent of the modern Christmas crackers) purchased at
random from a confectioner's shop, and still unopened. The recent
evidence of the kind is quite inconsiderable, and is perhaps hardly
sufficient to allow of the existence of a faculty of independent clairvoy-
ance being treated as an open question. Experiments with Mrs. Piper
in this direction have yielded negative results, and Professor Richet's
trials with Madame B. (Proc. S.P.R., vol. v. pp. 77 and 149) are neither
sufficiently numerous nor sufficiently striking to justify any conclusions
being drawn from them. Some curious results have, however, been
obtained by M. J. Ch. Roux (Annales des Sciences Psychiques, vol. iii.
pp. 198 et seq.}i and somewhat similar results have been obtained in this
country by two Associates of the S.P.R. But it is possible that all
these instances may be susceptible of another explanation. See, how-
ever, Mr. Myers' article on " Sensory Automatism," Proc. S.P.R^ vol.
viii. pp. 436 et seq.

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE.

transmitted idea seems to reach the mind of the per-
cipient no longer as the meagre result of a serious
crisis, or of a direct and often prolonged effort of
attention on the part of the agent, but spontaneously,
with great fulness of detail, and often with remarkable
ease and rapidity, as the outcome of a special recep-
tivity on the part of the percipient. Such clairvoy-
ance and the word must be understood to include
the impressions of other senses than sight occurs in
its most striking form with hypnotised percipients;
and in the present chapter I propose to deal with
results obtained in hypnotism and analogous states,
reserving for the following chapter instances of what
appears to be the same faculty occurring in the normal
state. 1

MRS. PIPER.

The phenomena of clairvoyance, as thus defined,
have been observed with great care in the case of an
American lady, Mrs. Piper. Mrs. Piper had been
known for some years in the United States as a clair-
voyante and spirit medium, and her trance utterances
had been carefully studied by Professor James and
Dr. Hodgson. In the winter of 1888-89 she spent
two months and a half in this country, at the invita-
tion of certain members of the S.P.R. She came to
England as a complete stranger, and was met on her
landing at Liverpool by Professor Lodge, and during

1 The definition of clairvoyance given in the text differs somewhat
from that adopted by Mrs. Sidgwick (Proc. S.P.I?., vol. vii. p. 30)
viz., "A faculty of acquiring supernormally, but not by reading the
minds of persons present, a knowledge of facts such as we normally
acquire by the use of our senses." Whether such a faculty exists or not,
it is certain that the phenomena which suggest it occur under the same
conditions and inextricably mingled with others which can, with some
plausibility, be explained as due to thought-transference from the con-
scious or unconscious memory of persons actually present. And as
the two sets of phenomena are found together in fact, it seemed best as
a matter of practical convenience that they should not be separated
in discussion, Moreover, the suggested application of the word finds
ample justification in popular usage.

328 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

the whole period she stayed either in the houses of
Professor Sidgwick or Mr. Myers at Cambridge, in
Professor Lodge's house at Liverpool, or in rooms in
London selected by Dr. Leaf. Neither at Cambridge
nor Liverpool were there any opportunities of her
acquiring knowledge of the histories and circum-
stances of the persons who visited her for experi-
ments, other than those afforded during the actual
progress of the experiment, or by inquiries of servants
and children, the examination of books and photo-
graph albums, or from the newspapers and private
correspondence. Practically she was under close and
almost continuous surveillance during the whole
period, and, independently of the special precautions
taken to guard against the acquisition of knowledge
by any of the means above indicated (Proc. S.P.R.,
vol. vi. pp. 438-440, 446-447, etc.), it is important to
note that the sitters were in almost every instance in-
troduced to Mrs. Piper under an assumed name; that
some of them, and those not the least successful, were
persons in no way connected with the S.P.R., whose
admission was due to circumstances more or less
accidental; and that on several occasions she stated
facts which were not within the conscious knowledge
of any person present, and which could not conceiv-
ably have been discovered by any process of private
inquiry. 1

The actual method of experiment was as follows:
Mrs. Piper would sit in a room partially darkened,
holding the hands of the sitter, whilst some other
person (generally Mr. Myers, Dr. Leaf, Professor
Lodge, or a shorthand writer) would be present to
take notes. Mrs. Piper would presently go off into

1 It should be added that during the progress of similar investi-
gations in the United States of America, Dr. Hodgson employed private
detectives to shadow Mr. and Mrs. Piper for some weeks, and that
nothing was discovered to intimate that any steps were taken by either,
whether by personal inquiry or by correspondence, to ascertain facts
relating to the history of actual or possible sitters. Mr. Piper did not
accompany his wife to this country.

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE.

a trance, attended at its outset by slight convulsive
movements resembling those of an epileptic attack,
and would after a brief interval assume the voice,
gestures, and phraseology of a man. In this guise
she gave herself out as one " Dr. Phinuit," a medical
man who had studied medicine in Paris in the first
quarter of the present century. In the impersonation
of this character Mrs. Piper used occasionally broken
English, pronounced some words, proper names
especially, with a French accent, and was admittedly
sometimes very successful in diagnosing and prescrib-
ing for the complaints of her sitters and their friends.
"Dr. Phinuit" would then pour out a more or less
coherent flood of conversation, questions, and remarks
about the relatives and friends of those present, their
past history and personal affairs generally, some of
which was apparently mere padding, some obviously
chance shots, or "fishing" for further information;
whilst, in the midst of all the irrelevancy and inco-
herence, there would occasionally be clear, detailed
statements on intimate matters of which it is incon-
ceivable that Mrs. Piper could have attained any
knowledge by normal means ; just as, to quote the
apt metaphor of Professor Lodge, in listening at a
telephone "you hear the dim and meaningless
fragments of a city's gossip, till back again comes
the voice obviously addressed to you, and speaking
with firmness and decision." In regard to the trance
itself, it has no doubt close analogy with the hypnotic
trance, though Mrs. Piper is not readily amenable
to hypnotism by ordinary means, and when hypno-
tised her condition is described by Professor James
as very different from that of the " medium trance."
(Proc., vol. vi. p. 653 ; viii. p. 56.) In the latter state
Mrs. Piper is, occasionally at least, anaesthetic in cer-
tain senses, and analgesic in various parts of the body
(viii. pp. 4-6), and her eyes are closed, with the eye-
balls turned upwards.

There is no reason to suppose that the simulacrum

330 APPARITIONS ANt) THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

of " Dr. Phinuit " is anything else than an impersona-
tion assumed by Mrs. Piper's subconsciousness. Such
impersonations are very common amongst " spirit
mediums " everywhere, and in all forms of spon-
taneously induced trance. 1 Nor is " Dr. Phinuit "
the only form assumed by Mrs. Piper's secondary
consciousness. It frequently happened in the trance
that "Dr. Phinuit" gave place to an impersonation,
often recognised as life-like and characteristic, of
some deceased relative of the sitter's, as in the case
of "Uncle Jerry," mentioned below. 2 Probably in
many cases the basis of these representations was
supplied by unguarded remarks of the sitters them-
selves, or by skilful guesses on the part of " Phinuit,"
sometimes possibly eked out by telepathic drafts on
the sitters' memories. As regards Mrs. Piper's con-
scious share in the matter, the persons who have
observed her most closely, both in this country and
in America, agree in believing that she is a woman
of transparent simplicity, and with a marked absence
of inquisitiveness or even ordinary interest in matters
outside her domestic concerns, and that she is incap-

1 Independently of the fact that " Dr. Phinuit " is as obviously
untrustworthy as Mrs. Piper in her natural state is apparently the
reverse, the inquiries which have been made have entirely failed to
corroborate the accounts, in themselves not always concordant, which
"Dr. Phinuit" has given of his birth, his education, and other circum-
stances in his "earth-life." His knowledge of his native language is
confined to a few simple phrases and a slight accent, frequently found
useful in disguising a bad shot at a proper name ; and the careful
investigations conducted by Dr. Hodgson into Mrs. Piper's antecedents
as a "medium " have made it almost certain that "Dr. Phinuit" is an
invention, borrowed from the person through whose agency Mrs. Piper
first became entranced, and who purported himself to be controlled by
a French doctor named Albert Finnett (pronounced Finne*). It should
be added that "Dr. Phinuit" possesses apparently no knowledge of the
medical names of drugs, nor any more intimate acquaintance with their
properties than could be gathered from a manual of domestic medicine.
(Vol. viii. pp. 47, 50, 51, etc.)

* At the present time (May 1894) "Dr. Phimyt" has, I understand,
almost entirely ceased to "control" Mrs. Piper; his place being taken
by the soi-disant spirit of a young American, 'recently deceased, who
has given remarkable proofs of his identity.

ON CLAlkVOYANCk IN TRANCfc.

able, morally and intellectually, of carrying on a
prolonged and systematic deception, and must by all
impartial persons be fully acquitted of responsibility
for "Dr. Phinuit's" proceedings. As is almost invari-
ably the case with entranced persons, in the normal
state she appears to know nothing of what goes on
in the trance, and to share none of the information
supernormally acquired by her secondary conscious-
ness. As to whether " Dr. Phinuit " is equally ignorant
of Mrs. Piper's thoughts and of knowledge acquired
normally by her, it is impossible to speak with equal
confidence. There can be little doubt either that he
is, or that he wishes, for the sake of effect, to produce
the impression that he is. But, as is not infrequently
the case, the second personality is markedly inferior
in its moral character to the normal consciousness.
Its ruling motive in this case appears to be a pro-
digious vanity, which drives "Dr. Phinuit," when
telepathy fails, into shuffling, equivocation, and all
manner of contemptible devices for eliciting informa-
tion, and passing it off as supernormally acquired.
Like the Strong Man of the music-halls, to make
good his bragging he is forced continually to eke
out what is genuinely abnormal by artifices at once
disingenuous and transparent. 1

The following is a summary of the proceedings at
two of the more successful sittings. Mrs. Piper was
at the time staying in Liverpool, with Professor
Lodge, who introduced to her on the morning of
December 23rd, 1888, under the pseudonym of Dr.
Jones, 2 a medical man practising in the city. Notes

1 I am glad to be able to append the following testimonial to
Phinuit's good qualities. An investigator who has had unusual facilities
for observing both Dr. Phinuit and Mrs. Piper, after reading the account
given in the text, writes to me: "I suppose the account of Phinuit is
true as far as it goes, but all the same ... I suppose because he is
more sympathetic, I an? rather fond of Phinuit."

2 At the evening sitting a servant unfortunately introduced the sitters
by their real names, but the circumstance will hardly, I think, be held
materially to affect the evidence.

332 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

were taken throughout by Professor Lodge, who was
himself ignorant of nearly all the details given. The
conversation was practically a monologue, as Dr. C
himself remained almost entirely silent, assenting,
" with a grunt, to wrong quite as much as to right
statements." It will be observed that here, as through-
out, "Dr. Phinuit" appears to gain his information
in an auditory form.

No, 96.

Sitting No. 42. Monday morning, December 23;-^.
Present : Dr. C. (introduced as Dr Jones) and O. J. L.

[The following is an abstract of the correct, or subsequently
corrected or otherwise noteworthy, statements.]

" You have a little lame girl, lame in the thigh, aged thhteen ;
either second or third. She's a little daisy. I do like her. Dark
eyes, the gentlest of the lot; good deal of talent for music. She
will be a brilliant woman ; don't forget it. She has more sym-
pathy, more mind, more quite a little daisy. She's got a mark,
a curious little mark, when you look closely, over eye, a scar
through forehead over left eye. The boy's erratic ; a little thing,
but a little devil. Pretty good when you know him. He'll
make an architect likely. Let him go to school. His mother's
too nervous. It will do him good. [This was a subject in
dispute.] You have a boy and two girls and a baby ; four in the
body. It's the little lame one I care for. There are two
mothers connected with you, one named Mary. Your aunt
passed out with cancer. You have indigestion, and take hot
water for it. You have had a bad experience. You nearly
slipped out once on the water." [Dangerous yacht accident last
summer. Above statements are correct except the lameness.
See next sitting.]

Sitting No. 43. Monday evening, December l^rd.

Present: Dr. and Mrs. C. and O. J, L. [Statements correct
when not otherwise noted.]

" How's little Daisy ? She will get over her cold. But there's
something the matter with her head. There's somebody round
you lame and somebody hard of hearing. That little girl has
got music in her. This lady is fidgety. There are four of you,
four going to stop with you, one gone out f the body. One got
irons on his foot Mrs. Allen, in her surroundings, is the one

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE. 333

with iron on leg. [Allen was maiden name of mother of lame
one.] There's about 400 of your family. There's Kate ; you
call her Kitty. She's the one that's kind of a crank. Trust-
worthy, but cranky. She will fly off and get married, she will.
Think's she knows everything, she does. [This is the nurse-
girl, Kitty, about whom they seem to have a joke that she is
a walking compendium of infoimation.] (An envelope with
letters written inside, N H P O Q, was here handed in,
and Phinuit wrote down B J R O I S, not in the best
of tempers.) A second cousin of your mother's drinks. The
little dark-eyed one is Daisy. I like her. She can't hear very
well. The lame one is a sister's child. [A cousin's child, the
one ne Allen, really.] The one that's deaf in her head is the
one that's got the music in her. That's Daisy, and she's going
to have the paints I told you of. [Fond of painting.] She's
growing up to be a beautiful woman. She ought to have a
paper ear. - [An artificial drum had been contemplated.] You
have an Aunt Eliza. There are three Maries, Mary the mother,
Mary the mother, Mary the mother. [Grandmother, aunt, and
granddaughter.] Three brothers and two sisters your lady has.
Three in the body. There were eleven in your family, two
passed out small [Only know of nine.] Fred is going to pass
out suddenly. He married a cousin. He writes. He has
shining things. Lorgnettes. He is away. He's got a catchy
trouble with heart and kidneys, and will pass out suddenly."
[Not the least likely.]

NOTES. The most striking part of this sitting is the promin-
ence given to Dr. C.'s favourite little daughter, Daisy, a child
very intelligent and of a very sweet disposition, but quite deaf;
although her training enables her to go to school and receive
oiclinary lessons with other children. At the first sitting she is
supposed erroneously to be lame, but at the second sitting this
is corrected and explained, and all said about her is practically
correct, including the cold she then had. Mrs. Piper had had
no opportunity whatever of knowing or hearing of the C. children
by ordinary social means. We barely know them ourselves.
Phinuit grasped the child's name gradually, using it at first as a
mere description. I did not know it myself.

The following is a summary of the false assertions :

ERRONEOUS STATEMENTS.
At Sitting 42 :

"Your lady's Fanny; well, there is a Fanny. [No.] Fred
has light hair, brownish moustache, prominent nose. [No.]
Your thesis was some*.special thing. I should say about lungs."
[No.]

334 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

At Sitting 4$:

"Your mother's name was Elizabeth. [No.] Her father's
lame. [No.] Of your children there's Eddie and Willie and
Fannie or Annie and a sister that faints, and Willie and Katie
(no, Katie don't count) [being the nurse], and Harry and the
little dark-eyed one, Daisy. [All wrong except Daisy.] One
passed out with sore throat [No.] The boy looks about 8.
[No, 4.] Your wife's father had something wrong with leg; one
named William. [No.] Your grandmother had a sister who
married a HoweHenry Howe. [Unknown.] There's a
Thomson connected with you [no], and if you look you will
find a Howe too. Your brother the captain [correct], with a
lovely wife, who has brown hair [correct], has had trouble in
head [no], and has two girls and a boy." [No, three girls.]

In this case it will be seen that no details were
given which could not have been derived from the
conscious knowledge of the sitter. Apart from the
fact that the agent made no effort to impress his
thought, it resembles a case of ordinary telepathy.
Of much the same character are the following details,
quoted from Professor James's account of his inter-
views with Mrs. Piper (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. pp. 658,
659):-'

No. 97. From Professor W. JAMES.

"The most convincing things said about my own immediate
household were either very intimate or very trivial. Unfortu-
nately the former things cannot well be published. Of the trivial
things, I have forgotten the greater number, but the following,
raros nantes^ may serve as samples of their class : She said that
we had lost recently a rug, and I a waistcoat. [She wrongly
accused a person of stealing the rug, which was afterwards
found in the house.] She told of my killing a grey-and-white
cat, with ether, and described how it had 'spun round and
round ' before dying. She told how my New York aunt had
written a letter to my wife, warning her against all mediums,
and then went off on a most amusing criticism, full of traits vifs,
of the excellent woman's character. [Of course no one but my
wife and I knew the existence of the letter in question.] She
was strong on the events in our nurserj-, and gave striking
advice during our first visit to her about the way to deal with
certain s tantrums ' of our second child, ' little Billy-boy,* as

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE. 335

she called him, reproducing his nursery name. She told how
the crib creaked at night, how a certain rocking-chair creaked
mysteriously, how my wife had heard footsteps on the stairs,
etc., etc. Insignificant as these things sound when read, the
accumulation of a large number of them has an irresistible effect.
And I repeat again what I said before, that taking everything
that I know of Mrs. P. into account, the result is to make me
feel as absolutely certain as I am of any personal fact in the
world that she knows things in her trances which she cannot
possibly have heard in her waking state, and that the definitive
philosophy of her trances is yet to be found. The limitations of
her trance-information, its discontinuity and fitfulness, and its
apparent inability to develop beyond a certain point, although
they end by rousing one's moral and human impatience with the
phenomenon, yet are, from a scientific point of view, amongst its
most interesting peculiarities, since where there are limits there
are conditions, and the discovery of these is always the begin-
ning of an explanation.

" This is all that I can tell you of Mrs. Piper. I wish it were
more * scientific. 1 But, valeat quantum ! it is the best I can
do."

But there are many cases (Professor Lodge enu-
merates forty-one instances, Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. pp.
649, 650) in which details were faithfully given by
" Phinuit," which had either been forgotten by the
sitters, or could not at any time have been within
their knowledge. The instances clearly falling under
the last head are perhaps too few to justify any
inference being founded on them, although in view of
some of the cases to be quoted later, telepathy from
persons at a distance from the percipient seems a not
impossible explanation. The following case, given
by Professor Lodge, which at first sight seems to
involve some such hypothesis, may perhaps be ex-
plained by the telepathic filching from his mind of
the memories of incidents heard in his boyhood and
long forgotten. It is right to say that Professor
Lodge has no recollection of ever having heard of
these incidents, and regards this explanation (or
indeed any other which has been suggested) as
extremely improbable. (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. pp.
458-460.)

336 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

No. 98. From PROFESSOR LODGE, F.R.S.

"It happens that an uncle of mine in London, now quite an
old man, and one of a surviving three out of a very large family,
had a twin brother who died some twenty or more years ago. I
interested him generally in the subject, and wrote to ask if he
would lend me some relic of this brother. By morning post on
a certain day I received a curious old gold watch, which this
brother had worn and been fond of; and that same morning,
no one in the house having seen it or knowing anything about
it, I handed it to Mrs. Piper when in a state of trance.

" I was told almost immediately that it had belonged to one
of my uncles one that had been mentioned before as having
died from the effects of a fall one that had been very fond of
Uncle Robert, the name of the survivor that the watch was
now in possession of this same Uncle Robert, with whom he
was anxious to communicate. After some difficulty and many
wrong attempts Dr. Phinuit caught the name, Jerry, short for
Jeremiah, and said emphatically, as if a third person was
speaking, ' This is my watch, and Robert is my brother, and I
am here. Uncle Jerry, my watch.' All this at the first sitting
on the very morning the watch bad arrived by post, no one but
myself and a shorthand clerk who happened to have been
introduced for the first time at this sitting by me, and whose
antecedents are well known to me, being present.

" Having thus ostensibly got into communication through
some means or other with what purported to be a deceased
relative, whom I had indeed known slightly in his later years of
blindness, but of whose early life I knew nothing, I pointed out
to him that to make Uncle Robert aware of his presence it
would be well to recall trivial details of their boyhood, all of
which I would faithfully report.

" He quite caught the idea, and proceeded during several
successive sittings ostensibly to instruct Dr. Phinuit to mention
a number of little things such as would enable his brother to
recognise him.

" References to his blindness, illness, and main facts of his life
were comparatively useless from my point of view ; but these
details of boyhood, two-thirds of a century ago, were utterly and
entirely out of my ken. My father was one of the younger
members of the family, and only knew these brothers as men.

" ' Uncle Jerry 7 recalled episodes such as swimming the creek
when they were boys together, and running some risk of getting
drowned ; killing a cat in Smith's field ; the possession of a
small rifle, and of a long peculiar skin, like^a snake-skin, which
he thought was now in the possession of Uncle Robert.

" All these facts have been more or less completely verified.
But the interesting thing is that his twin brother, from whom I

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE. 337

got the watch, and with whom I was thus in a sort of com-
munication, could not remember them all. He recollected
something about swimming the creek, though he himself had
merely looked on. He had a distinct recollection of having
had the snake-skin, and of the box in which it was kept, though
he does not know where it is now. But he altogether denied
killing the cat, and could not recall Smith's field.

" His memory, however, is decidedly failing him, and he was
good enough to write to another brother, Frank, living in Corn-
wall, an old sea captain, and ask if he had any better remem-
brance of certain facts of course not giving any inexplicable
reasons for asking. The result of this inquiry was triumphantly
to vindicate the existence of Smith's field as a place near their
home, where they used to play, in Barking, Essex; and the
killing of a cat by another brother was also recollected ; while
of the swimming of the creek, near a mill-race, full details were
given, Frank and Jerry being the heroes of that foolhardy
episode.

" Some of the other facts given I have not yet been able to
get verified. Perhaps there arc as many unverified as verified.
And some things appear, so far as I can make out, to be false.
One little thing I could verify myself, and it is good, inasmuch
as no one is likely to have had any recollection, even if they
had any knowledge, of it. Phinuit told me to take the watch
out of its case (it was the old-fashioned turnip variety) and
examine it in a good light afterwards, and I should see some
nicks near the handle which Jerry said he had cut into it with
his knife.

" Some faint nicks are there. I had never had the watch out
of its case before ; being, indeed, careful neither to finger it
myself nor to let any one else finger it.

" I never let Mrs. Piper in her waking state see the watch till
quite towards the end of the time, when I purposely left it lying
on my desk while she came out of the trance. Before long she
noticed it, with natural curiosity, evidently becoming conscious
of its existence then for the first time." 1

There are many other cases of clairvoyance on
record of the same type as Mrs. Piper's, but none

1 It is impossible by means of a few short extracts to give a fair idea
either of the strength of the evidence for telepathy afforded by the
phenomena observed with Mrs. Piper, or of the variety and complexity
of the problems there presented. Readers who are interested in the
subject are referred to the record of the observations made by the
S, P. R. , occupying nearly 400 closely-printed octavo pages. (Proc. , vol.
vi. pp. 436-660? vol. viii. pp. 1-167.) Further observations have
been made during the ytar 1893 in the United States by Dr. Hodgson
and others, the records of which have not yet been published.

22

338 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

which have been studied by so many observers with
equal care, and through so prolonged a period. In
the more usual form of trance clairvoyance, however,
the percipient's impressions are of a visual character.
He describes scenes which he appears to himself to
see. In the pages of the Zoist and elsewhere vision
of the kind is commonly called "travelling clair-
voyance," it having generally been suggested to the
hypnotised subject that he was actually present at
the scene which he was desired to describe. It is
possible that this suggestion, almost universally given,
may have had some influence in determining the
pictorial form which the telepathic impressions
assume in such cases, as it has certainly led the
percipient himself and the bystanders in many cases
to believe in an extra-corporeal visitation of the
scenes described. Often no details are given which
were not within the knowledge, if not consciously pre-
sent to the thoughts, of one of the bystanders. Such,
for instance, is the case quoted by Dr. Backman, of Kal-
mar, in his paper on clairvoyance (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vii.
pp. 205, 206 ; viii. 405-407), in which the Director-
General of Pilotage for Sweden, M. Ankarkrona, re-
cords how, when absent from home, he received from a
maid-servant hypnotised by Baron Von Rosen an ex-
tremely detailed description of the interior of his own
house and its inmates. Hardly a detail was incorrect,
but no single detail was given which could not have
been extracted from M. Ankarkrona's mind. To
such a case there is no difficulty in applying the
telepathic explanation.

No. 99. From A. W. DOBBIE.

In the case to be next quoted, however, the infor-
mation given by the hypnotised subject transcends
the conscious knowledge, at all events, of those
present The account comes from Mr. A. W. Dobbie,
of Adelaide, South Australia, who has for some years

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE. 339

studied the phenomena of hypnotism on a number of
subjects, and has observed some striking manifesta-
tions of telepathy and clairvoyance. I quote from a
letter written to me in July 1886, containing a copy
of his notes made at the time of the experiment, " the
moment the words were uttered." The Hon. Dr.
Campbell, M.L.C., who had lost a gold sleeve-link,
brought its fellow on the 28th May 1886 to Mr.
Dobbie, who placed it in the hand of one of his
subjects. Then

" Miss Martha began by first accurately describing Dr. Camp-
bell's features, then spoke of a little fair-haired boy who had
a stud, or sleeve-link, in his hand, also of a lady calling him
' Neil'; then said that this little boy had taken the link into a
place like a nursery where there were some toys, especially a
large toy elephant, and that he had dropped the link into this
elephant through a hole which had been torn or knocked in
the breast ; also that he had taken it out again, and gave two
or three other interesting particulars. We were reluctantly
compelled to postpone further investigation until two or three
evenings afterwards.

" On the next occasion (in the interval, however, the missing
sleeve-link had been found, but left untouched), I again placed
the link in her hand and the previous particulars were at once
reproduced ; but as she seemed to be getting on very slowly, it
occurred to Dr. Campbell to suggest placing his hand on that
of the clairvoyant, so I placed him en rapport and allowed him
to do so, he simply touching the back of her hand with the
points of his fingers. As she still seemed to have great diffi-
culty (she is always much slower than her sister) in proceeding,
it suddenly occurred to me that it would be an interesting
experiment to place Miss Eliza Dixon en rapport with Miss
Martha, so I simply joined their disengaged hands, and Miss
Eliza immediately commenced as follows, viz. :

" ' I'm in a house, upstairs, I was in a bathroom, then I went
into another room nearly opposite, there is a large mirror just
inside the door on the left hand, there is a double-sized dressing-
table with drawers down each side of it, the sleeve-link is in
the corner of the drawer nearest the door. When they found it
they left it there. I know why they left it there, it was because
they wanted to see if we would find it. I can see a nice easy-
chair there, it is an old one, I would like it when I am put to
sleep, because it is*nice and low. The bed has curtains, they
are a sort of brownfeh net and have a fringe of darker brown.
The wall paper is of a light blue colour. There is a cane lounge

340 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

there and a pretty Japanese screen behind it, the screen folds
up. There is a portrait of an old gentleman over the mantel-
piece, he is dead, I knew him when he was alive, his name is the
same as the gentleman who acts as Governor when the Gover-
nor is absent from the colony, 1 I will tell you his name directly
it is the Rev. Mr. Way. It was a little boy who put the
sleeve-link in that drawer, he is very fair, his hair is almost
white, he is a pretty little boy, he has blue eyes and is about
three years old. The link had been left on that table, the little
boy was in the nursery, and he went into the bedroom after
the gentleman had left. I can see who the gentleman is, it is
Dr. Campbell. Doesn't that little boy look a young Turk, the
link is quite a handful for his little hand, he is running about
with it very pleased ; but he doesn't seem to know what to do
with it. (A )

[Dr. Campbell was not present from this point]

"' Now I can hear some one calling up the stairs, a lady is
calling two names, Colin is one and Neil is the other, the other
boy is about five years old and is darker than the other. The
eldest, Colin, is going downstairs now, he is gone into what
looks like a dining-room, the lady says, "Where is Neil?"
"Upstairs, ma." "Go and tell him to come down at once."
The little fair-haired boy had put the link down ; but when he
heard his brother coming up, he picked it up again. Colin
says " Neil, you are to come down at once." " I won't," says
Neil. "You're a goose," replies Colin, and he turned and went
down without Neil. What a young monkey ! now he has gone
into the nursery and put the link into a large toy elephant, he
put it through a hole in front, which is broken. He has gone
downstairs now, I suppose he thinks it is safe there.

" ' Now that gentleman has come into the room again and he
wants that link; he is looking all about for it, he thinks it might
be knocked down : the lady is there now too, and they are both
looking for it. The lady says, "Are you sure you put it there?"
The gentleman says, " Yes."

" * Now it seems like next day, the servant is turning the
carpet up and looking all about for it ; but can't find it.

<f< The gentleman is asking that young Turk if he has seen it, he
knows that he is fond of pretty things. The little boy says, "No."
He seems to think it is fine fun to serve his father like that.

" * Now it seems to be another day and the little boy is in the
nursery again, he has taken the link out of the elephant, now
he has dropped it into that drawer, that is all I have to tell you
about it, I told you the rest before.' "
s

1 Chief Justice Way is the gentleman who acts as Deputy for his
Excellency when absent from the colony, A. W. D.

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE. 341

Dr. Campbell, after reading through the above
account, writes :

" ADELAIDE, July gtk, 1886.

" At the point (A) the stance was discontinued till the next
sitting, when I was absent. The conversation reported as
passing between the children is correct. The description of
the room is accurate in every point. The portrait is that of the
late Rev. James Way. The description of the children and
their names are true. The fact that the link was discovered in
the drawer, in the interval between one sitting and the final one,
and that the link was left there, pending the discovery of it by
the clairvoyant, is also correct, as this was my suggestion to
Mrs. Carupbell when she showed it to me in the corner of the
drawer. In fact, every circumstance reported is absolutely
correct. I know, further, that neither of the clairvoyants has
ever been inside of my door. My children are utterly unknown
to them, either in appearance or by name. I may say also that
they had no knowledge of my intention to place the link in their
possession, or even of my presence at the stance, as they were
both on each occasion in the mesmeric sleep when I arrived."

In a later letter, dated December i6th, 1887, Dr.
Campbell writes:

" With respect to the large toy elephant, I certainly knew of
its existence, but was not thinking of it at the time the clairvoy-
ant was speaking. I did not know even by suspicion that the
elephant was so mutilated as to have a large opening in its chest,
and on coming home had to examine the toy to see whether the
statement was correct. I need hardly say that it was absolutely
correct."

Mr. Dobbie tells us that " neither he nor his clairvoyants had
any opportunity, directly or indirectly, of knowing any of the
particulars brought out by the clairvoyant." He afterwards
saw the room described, and says "the description is simply
perfect in every particular."

This narrative presents us, at any rate, with a case
of thought-transference of a very remarkable kind, an
accurate and detailed description being given of a
room wholly unknown to the clairvoyantes. But it is
doubtful whether even here more was stated by the
percipients than ^ould have been extracted from the
minds of those ^present The statement as to the
child placing the sleeve-link in the toy elephant could

342 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

not, unfortunately, be verified, and the conversation
described was natural enough under the circumstances,
and may have been the result of a happy conjecture.
It is unfortunate that a detailed description of the
room was not given until the second sitting, since
that lessens the improbability, in any case consider-
able, that some information as to the details given
might have reached the ears of the clairvoyantcs. 1
The most remarkable feature in the case is the state-
ment, subsequently verified, as to the hole in the front
of the elephant. We must suppose either that this
detail was derived from the mind of the child, or that
Dr. Campbell had once observed the hole but had
forgotten its existence at the time of the experiment.
Mr. Dobbie gives other instances of clairvoyance, by
one of which the hypothesis of thought-transference
from a distant and unknown person is strongly
suggested. (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vii. p. 63, etc.)

No. loo. From DR. WILTSE.

We next quote two cases out of several recorded
by Dr. A. S. Wiltse, of Skiddy, Kansas (Proc. S.P.R.,
vol. vii. pp. 72 et seq.}. The percipient was Fannie G.,
a servant of about fifteen years, who was frequently
hypnotised by Dr. Wiltse in the summer of 1882, and
developed clairvoyant powers of a very remarkable
kind. Dr. Wiltse unfortunately took no notes at the
time of the experiments, but he appears to be an
accurate reporter, and it will be seen that his account
of the incidents quoted is confirmed in each case by
other observers. The first experiment was recorded
with others in 1886, in a paper read before the Owosso
Academy of Medicine; the second was not apparently
written down until the account was sent to us in
1890:

1 It is hardly necessary to say that such an interpretation in no way
reflects upon the good faith of the hypnotics Hints derived from
conversation overheard unconsciously might be quite sufficient.

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE. 343

" Miss Florence F., now Mrs. R., a neighbour, was invited to
attend one evening with tests which she was to arrange during
the day. She came and told the subject to go to her kitchen
and tell her what she saw. It was about twenty rods to Miss
F.'s kitchen. Subject was led to suppose she had gone to the
kitchen, and being asked what she saw, readily answered : * The
table sits in the centre of the room, and upon it is a box
covered with a cloth.' * What is in the box, Fannie?' I asked.
'Oh, I daren't look in the box ! Miss Florence might be mad.'
'Miss Florence is willing you should look; raise the cloth,
Fannie, and tell me what is there.' She immediately answered,
'There are seven loaves of bread and sixteen biscuits in it. 1
(Correct.)

" I set this down as telepathy because Miss Florence F. was
in the room, and undoubtedly the facts were prominently in her
mind, having been purposely so arranged by her for a test ; but
what follows is not so plainly telepathy.

" Miss Florence asked Fannie to tell her what was in her
stable. She answered, ' Two black horses, one grey horse, and
one red horse' (meaning a bay horse). Miss Florence: 'That
is wrong, Fannie ; there are only my black horses in the stable.'
Ten or fifteen minutes later, a brother of Miss Florence came to
the house and told Miss Florence that there were travellers at
the house, and upon inquiry we learned that the grey and ' red '
horse belonged to them, and that they had been in the stable
half-an-hour when Fannie's clairvoyant eye scanned it."

Mrs. Roberts, the Miss Florence F. of the narrative,
writes to Dr. Wiitse:

" CARDIFF, TENN., January is///, 1891.

"Your letter was received late last night, and I hasten to
reply. Your statement 1 is correct as far as it goes. But if you
remember we asked, or rather you asked Fannie, to go into
our store-room and see what was in there, and she said a hind
quarter of beef, which was true, we had got it late that evening.
You also asked her to go in the kitchen and see how many
loaves of bread she could find, which she told, and on counting
them after returning home, she was correct. It was in the
winter of '81 or '82, I think, either December '81, or in the
January or February of '82, I cannot remember the month ; I
know it was cold weather If you remember when old Julian

1 The statement sewt to Mrs. Roberts was substantially a copy of the
last nine lines only of the preceding account, No reference was made
to the visit to the kitchen.

344 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

Scott was drowned, it was about that time, for if I remember
right you were trying that same night to get her to find his
body. I think, as well as I remember, that she located his
saddle, and a few days after it was found in a place that she
described, but she could not find the body.

" MRS. FLORENCE F. ROBERTS."

In the second of the incidents above described, and
in the account which follows, the percipient's state-
ments included facts which were not within the know-
ledge of any of those present, and we are forced to
the conclusion that the percipient in some way derived
her knowledge from persons at a distance. The case
presents a curious experimental parallel to the dream
(No. 60) recorded in Chapter VIII., and to case No.
107 below. In the present instance, however, the per-
sons whom we may perhaps call the agents, though
unconscious of their agency in the matter, do not
appear to have been personally unknown to the
percipient

No. ioi. From DR, WILTSE.

u Mr. Howard lived six miles from me. He had just built
a large frame house; our subject had never seen the house,
although, I presume, she may have heard it talked of. ' Mr.
Howard had not been home for some days, and asked that
Fannie should go there and see if all were well. She exclaimed
at the size of the house, but railed at the ugliness of the front
fence, saying she would not have * such an old torn-down ' fence
in front of so nice a house. * Yes,' said Howard, laughing, * my
wife has been worrying the life out of me about the fence and
the front steps.' ' Oh,' interrupted Fannie, * the steps are nice
and new 1 ' ' She is off there,' said Howard, * the steps are
worse than the fence.' * Don't you see/ exclaimed Fannie,
impatiently, * how new and nice the steps are ? Humph ! '
(And she seemed absolutely disgusted, judging by the tone.)
' I think they are real nice.'

"Changing the subject, Howard asked her how many
windows were in his house. Almost instantly she gave a
number (I think it was twenty-six). Howard thought it was
too many, but upon carefully counting, foun it exact.

" From my house he went directly home, and, to his great
surprise, found that during his absence his wife had employed

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE. 34$

a carpenter who had built new front steps, and they had
been completed a day or two before Fannie had scanned the
premises for him with her invisible telescope.

" Mr. Howard's son, a youth, had gone into an adjoining
county and was not expected back for some days. Fannie
was acquainted with the young man (Andrew). Mr. Howard,
having business back at the station, was with us again the next
night. His faith in our 'oracle' had assumed larger propor-
tions, and he suggested a visit home by means of Fannie's
wonderful faculty. She described the rooms excellently, even
to a bouquet on one of the tables, and said that several young
people were there. Asked who they were, she replied that she
did not know any of them except Andrew. * But, 7 I said,
' Andrew ij not at home.' Fannie : c Why, don't you see him ? '
Q. 'Sure, Fannie?' F. ' Oh, don't I know Andrew? Right
there, he is. 1 Mr. Howard returned home the next morning,
where he found that Andrew had returned late the day before,
and that several young people in the neighbourhood had passed
the evening with him."

The following are copies of questions addressed to
Mr. Howard, and his replies to them :

" ' Did she describe your new doorsteps to you before you
knew they were built ?' ' Yes.'

" Question. ' Did she describe your house and tell you
Andrew was there when you thought he was away, and, if so,
was he actually at home as she stated ? '

"Answer. * Yes.'

" Question. ' From what you saw, were you satisfied that
Fannie had, when mesmerised, powers of imparting knowledge
unknown to others about her?'

"Answer. * Yes.'

"WILLIAM HOWARD,

Kismet, Tenn., Morgan Co."

" We testify to these questions, asked William Howard, to be
facts. We wer6 present at the same time Mr. Howard was
when Miss G. was mesmerised by Dr. A. S. Wiltse. We
further state that when any of us would prick the doctor with a
pin, she would flinch with the same part of her body. Miss G.
was not in the habit of the use of tobacco. The doctor was in
a different room, with a wall between them. When he would
smoke, she grew nauseated and seemed to taste the same
as he did. .

" W. T. HOWARD AND LIZZIE HOWARD."

346 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

No. 102. From MR. WILLIAM BOYD.

A remarkable case has been recorded, from contem-
porary knowledge, by Mr. William Boyd, of Peterhead,
N.B. (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vii. pp. 49 et seq.}. The events
occurred as far back as 1850, but a full account of
them was contributed by Mr. Boyd to the Aberdeen
Herald for May 8th and i8th of that year, from which
it appears that the statements made by the percipient
were written down and communicated to Mr. Boyd
and others before their correspondence with the facts
was known. The incident attracted much notice at
the time, from its connection with the whaling fleet,
the chief topic of local interest. The following is an
extract from the original notes made by Mr. Reid,
the hypnotiser, published in the Aberdeen Herald^
May i8th, 1850:

" On the evening of April 22nd I put John Park, tailor, aged
twenty-two, into a state of clairvoyance, in presence of twelve
respectable inhabitants of this town. (Here follows a description
of certain statements regarding the fate of Franklin's expedition
and the ships Erebus and Terror > which in the light of informa-
tion subsequently received proved to have been inaccurate.)
He (the clairvoyant) then visited Old Greenland, as was
desired, and having gone on board the Hamilton Ross, a whale-
ship belonging to this port, saw David Cardno, second mate,
getting his hand bandaged up by the doctor in the cabin, having
got it injured while sealing. He was then told by the captain
that they had upwards of 100 tons of oil. I again, on the even-
ing of the 23rd, put him into a clairvoyant state. (Here follow
some further particulars regarding Sir John Franklin's expedi-
tion, which also are proved to have been inaccurate.) I again
directed him to Old Greenland, and he again visited the
Hamilton Ross^ and found Captain Gray, of the Eclipse^ con-
versing with the captain about the seal fishing being up.

"(Signed) WILLIAM REID."

It appears from the Herald of May 8th that the
Hamilton Ross did come to port first out of eleven
ships, that she brought 159 tons of oil, that Cardno
had injured his hand, and arrived with his arm in

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE. 347

a sling, and that on the 23rd April the captain of the
Hamilton Ross was conversing with the captain of the
Eclipse. Mr. Boyd points out, however, that Cardno
had some years before lost the tip of one finger, so
that the clairvoyant's statement of the accident may
have been simply a reminiscence. It is worth noting
that here, as generally in visions of the kind, the false
was mingled with the true, and that the percipient
appears quite unable to distinguish between pictures
which arc obviously the work of his own imagination,
and those which are apparently due to inspiration
from without.

The next case is also remote in date, but we have
received the evidence of several persons still living
who were conversant with the facts at the time of their
occurrence, and the account given below is taken from
contemporary notes. " Jane >} was the wife of a pit-
man in County Durham, who for many years, from
1845 onwards, was hypnotised for the sake of her
health by Mrs. T. Myers, of Twinstead Rectory, Mrs.
Fraser, her sister, and other members of the same
family. In the hypnotic sleep she appears to have
been sensible to telepathic influences of the same kind
as those described at the beginning of Chapter III.
But she also gave remarkable demonstrations of
" travelling clairvoyance," and frequently described
correctly the interior of houses she had never seen.
Occasionally she went beyond this, and stated facts
not within the knowledge of those present, and
opposed to their preconceptions. A good instance is
the following, taken from notes made in the summer
of 1853:

No, 103. From DR. F. 1

"Before commencing the sitting, I fixed to take her to a
house, without communicating my intentions to any of the

1 Dr. F., who is stilV living, is disinclined to have his name published,
as he does not wish to be troubled with correspondence on the subject.

348 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

parties present. In the morning of the day I stated to a patient
of my own, Mr. Eglinton, at present residing in the village of
Tynemouth, that I intended to visit him. He stated that he
would be present between 8 and 10 P.M. in a particular room, so
that there might be no difficulty in finding him. He was just
recovering from a very severe illness, and was so weak that he
could scarcely walk. He was exceedingly thin from the effects
of his complaint.

" After the usual state had been obtained, I said, * We are
standing beside a railway station, now we pass along a road,
and in front of us see a house with a laburnum tree in front of
it.' She directly replied, 'Is it the red house with a brass
knocker? 1 I said, ' No, it has an iron knocker.' I have since
looked, however, and find that the door has an old-fashioned
brass handle in the shape of a knocker. She then asked, ' Shall
we go up the steps ? Shall we go along this passage, and up
these stairs ? Is this a window on the stair-head?' I said,
* You are quite right, and now I want you to look into the room
upon the left-hand side.' She replied, 'Oh, yes, in the bed-
room. There is no one in this room ; there is a bed in it, but
there is no person in it.' I was not aware that a bedroom was
in the place I mentioned, but upon inquiry next day I found she
was correct. I told her she must look into the next room, and
she would see a sofa. She answered, ' But there is here a little
gallery. Now I am in the room, and see a lady with black hair
lying upon the sofa.' I attempted to puzzle her about the colour
of her hair, and feeling sure it was Mr. Eglinton who was lying
there, I sharply cross-questioned her, but still she persisted in
her story. The questioning, however, seemed to distract her
mind, and she commenced talking about a lady at Whickham,
until I at last recalled her to the room at Tynemouth, by asking
whether there was not a gentleman in the room. ' No,' she
said; ' we can see no gentleman there.'

" After a little she described the door opening, and asked t
with a tone of great surprise, ' Is that a gentleman ?' I replied,
'Yes; is he thin or fat"?' 'Very fat,' she answered; 'but has
he a cork leg ? ' I assured her that he had no cork leg, and
tried to puzzle her again about him. She, however, assured me
that he was very fat and had a great corporation, and asked me
whether I did not think such a fat man must eat and drink a
great deal to get such a corporation as that. She also described
him as sitting by the table with papers beside him, and a glass
of brandy and water. ' Is it not wine ? ' I asked. ' No,' she said,
'it's brandy.' ' Is it not whisky or rum?' ' No, it is brandy,'
was the answer; ' and now/ she continue^, 'the lady is going to
get her supper, but the fat gentleman does not take any.' I
requested her to tell me the colour of 'his hair, but she only
answered that the lady's hair was dark. I then inquired if he

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN tRANCE. 349

had any brains in his head, 1 but she seemed altogether puzzled
about him, and said she could not see any. I then asked her if
she could see his name upon any of the letters lying about. She
replied, * Yes ' ; and upon my saying that the name began with
E, she spelt each letter of the name ' Eglinton.'

" I was so convinced that I had at last detected her in a com-
plete mistake that I arose, and declined proceeding further in
the matter, stating that, although her description of the house
and the name of the person were correct, in everything connected
with the gentleman she had guessed the opposite from the
truth.

" On the following morning Mr. E. asked me the result of the
experiment, and after having related it to him, he gave me the
following account : He had found himself unable to sit up to
so late an hour, but wishful fairly to test the powers of the clair-
voyante, he had ordered his clothes to be stuffed into the form
of a figure, and to make the contrast more striking to his
natural appearance, had an extra pillow pushed into the clothes
so as to form a ' corporation.' The figure had been placed near
the table, in a sitting position, and a glass of brandy and water
and the newspapers placed beside it. The name, he further
added, was spelt correctly, though up to that time I had been in
the habit of writing it ' Eglington,' instead of as spelt by the
clairvoyante, ' Eglinton.' "

In this case it will be seen that the only person
from whom knowledge of the facts given could have
been derived was personally unknown to the per-
cipient, the only apparent link of connection being
their common acquaintance with Dr. F.

In the last case to be mentioned there are again
some indications of thought-transference from the
mind of a person at a distance. On April 8th, 1890,
Dr. Backman, at Kalmar, received a letter from Dr.
Kjellman, at Stockholm, asking that on the following
day Dr. Backman should request one of his subjects,
Alma Radberg, to "find" Dr. von B. (known to
Alma), and describe the apartment (Dr. Kjellman's
own) in which he would be sitting, adding that some-
thing would be hung on the chandelier for her to

describe. The percipient in the trance gave a

1 On a previous occasira she had described a skull in a surgery as a
head, but "not a live head, and with no brains in it."

350 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

description of the room, and when asked to look at the
chandelier she said there was no chandelier, some-
thing more like a lamp, and described something long
and narrow, of white metal, hanging from it, with
some red stuff round it. When awake she said that
what she saw was probably a pair of scissors for cut-
ting paper, or a paper-knife. Dr. Backman sent his
notes to Dr. Kjellman, who replied, showing that the
description of the room, though in some respects
accurate (e.g., she mentioned a long stuffed easy-chair,
a glass bookcase, three doors in the lobby, etc.), was
in other features incorrect, and should on the whole
be regarded as inconclusive. " But," he adds, " her
statement that the object was hanging in a lamp, not
a chandelier, was right. It is both a lamp and a
chandelier, and the lamp was drawn down a long way
under the chandelier," and that the object hanging
there was " a large pair of paper scissors, fixed by an
india-rubber otoscope, and with a tea-rose and some
forget-me-nots in one of the handles of the scissors."
It will thus be seen that on the one point to which
her attention had been specially directed, the hyp-
notic's description was strikingly accurate; and the
articles described were hardly within the range of
conjecture.

Dr. Backman has made other experiments with the
same subject, in which he obtained further indications
of clairvoyance of this kind. (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vii. p.
207, etc.)

CHAPTER XV.

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE.

THERE is probably no sharp line to be drawn between
the cases just described and those to be dealt with in
the first part of the present chapter. Both present
the common feature that the percipient receives a
clear and detailed telepathic impression of an incident
or scene in the experience of some other person, and
in both the condition of that impression is manifestly
not an effort of attention or an exceptional state on
the part of the person whose experience is thus repre-
sented, but a specially stimulated receptivity on the
part of the percipient. But in some cases the con-
ditions of this special receptivity are found in trance,
whilst in others the percipient is apparently in the
normal state. This would seem indeed to constitute
only a superficial difference, for in the majority of
cases hitherto observed the waking clairvoyance does
not occur spontaneously, but requires special prepara-
tion for its induction, and sometimes the percipient
appears to pass into a state resembling the earlier
stages of a hypnotic trance. Thus Mr. Keulemans,
the well-known scientific draughtsman, who has had
many experiences of telepathic clairvoyance, 1 has
noticed in the course of his work, which consists
largely of making drawings of birds for lithographic
reproduction, that, in his own words,

1 Several instances ofTOr. Keulemans' telepathic experiences are given
in Phantasms of the Living (cases 21, 38, 56, 184).

AttARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

" Whenever strong impressions had got hold of my mind they
had a tendency to develop themselves into a vivid mind-picture
as soon as my eye and attention were concentrated upon the eye
in the drawing; and that whenever I began darkening the iris,
leaving the light speck the most prominent part, I would slowly
pass off into a kind of dream-state. The mere act of drawing
the eye is not enough to bring me into this state, or I should
experience such a state at least once a day, which I do not.
But if a strong mental impression takes hold of me I begin
drawing an eye. . . . The drawing will then convey to me the
news, either in the form of a vague, imperfect representation of
the person indicated in the impression, or by a correct hallu-
cinatory picture of the event as it actually occurred, both as
regards the person and the surroundings. Sometimes I cannot
get at the vision at once; other thoughts and scenes interfere.
But when I begin to feel drowsy I know I shall have it right in
a second ; and here I lose normal consciousness. That there is
an actual loss of consciousness I know from the fact that on one
occasion my wife had been in the room talking to me, and not
receiving a reply thought that something was wrong with me
and shook my shoulder. The shake brought me back to my
waking state." (Proc. S.P.R.> vol. viii. p. 517.)

But this would seem to be an extreme case, as
under ordinary circumstances there is no apparent
loss of consciousness ; and the essential condition
appears to be freedom from interruption and preoccu-
pation. But the percipient generally finds it helpful,
if not absolutely necessary, to employ a crystal, or
some other object, for the full development of the im-
pression. The exact part played by the crystal, glass
of water, shell, or other object, in facilitating the
hallucination, it is not easy to determine. In some
cases, no doubt, it acts by furnishing a point de repere^
or nucleus of actual sensation, round which the hallu-
cination may develop. It is probable also that the
mere act of fixing the eyes on one particular point
may, by shutting out other sources of sensation, help
to bring about the state of quietude necessary for the
experiments ; and yet again it is likely that the
intrinsic virtue of the act, whatever that may be, is
enhanced by the self-suggestion that it will prove
beneficial ; if indeed its virtue may not in some cases

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE. 353

be altogether due to that cause. It should be remem-
bered in this connection that fixation of the eye on a
small bright object is one of the readiest means of
inducing hypnosis. 1

Induced Clairvoyance.
No. 104. From Miss X

Miss X., some of whose experiments have already
been quoted, has been amongst the most constant
and successful of crystal seers. The bulk of her
visions, as she has pointed out (Proc. S.P.R., vol. v. p.
505), consist either of mere after-images, recrudescent
memories of things seen and heard, or of fancy
pictures built out of a rearrangement of existing
materials. But occasionally there occur visions of
events then taking place, or representations of the
past experience of some friend. Space will not
permit of illustrations being given of the first two
classes, though the first especially has some bearing
on our researches. The following account of what
appears to have been a telepathic vision is included
by Mr. Myers in a paper on the subliminal con-
sciousness (Proc. S.P.R.y vol. viii. p. 491). D. is the
friend mentioned in Chapter V., p, 1 22.

1 It should perhaps be said that there is nothing in the experience of
the many persons who have so far tried crystal gazing, at the instance
of the S.P. R., to indicate risk of injury to health. It is no doubt not
advisable for an invalid, or for any one suffering from headache, or
undue fatigue, to try the experiment. Indeed, the experience of Mrs.
Verrall and others is that success under such conditions is unattainable.
But with ordinary care to avoid straining the eyes, no evil effect, it is
thought, need be apprehended; and there is probably no form of
experiment which at the cost of so little trouble may be expected to
yield results of so great interest and value. There is of course no
magic in the crystal ; a glass paper-weight, a mirror, or a glass of water
will serve the purpose equally well. Records of experiments will be
welcomed by Mr. F. W. H. Myers, from whose suggestive article many
of the illustrations quoted in the text are taken. (See Proc., vol. viii,
p. 436, etc.) ~

23

354 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

"On August loth of this year [1892] D. went with her
family to spend the autumn at a country house which they had
taken furnished, and which neither of us had ever seen. I was
also away from home, the distance between us being at least
200 miles.

"On the morning of the I2th I received a pencil note from
her, evidently written with difficulty, saying that she had been
very fiercely attacked by a savage dog, from which she and our
own little terrier had defended themselves and each other as
best they could, receiving a score or so of wounds between
them before they could summon any one to their assistance.
She gave me no details, assuming that, as often happens
between us, I should have received intimation of her danger
before the news could reach me by ordinary methods.

" D. was extremely disappointed on hearing that I had known
nothing. I had not consulted the crystal on the day of the
accident, and had received no intimation. Begging her to tell
me nothing further as to the scene of her. adventure, I sought
for it in the crystal on Sunday, I4th, and noted the following
details : The attacking dog was a large black retriever, and
our terrier held him by the throat while D, beat at him in the
rear. I saw also the details of D.'s dress. But all this I knew
or could guess. What I could not know was that the terrier's
collar lay upon the ground, that the struggle took place upon a
lawn beyond which lay earth a garden bed probably over-
shadowed by an aucuba bush.

" On September 9th I had an opportunity of repeating all
this to Mr. Myers, and on the loth I joined D. at their country
house. The rest of the story I give in her own words :

From D.

" c As we were somewhat disappointed that no intimation of
the accident which had occurred to me had reached Miss X.,
she determined to try to call up a mental picture of the scene
where it had occurred, and if possible to verify it when visiting
us later on.

" ' On the night of her arrival at C , we were not able to

go over the whole of the grounds alone, and it was therefore
not until the following morning that we went together for the
special purpose of fixing on the exact spot. Miss X. was in
front, as I feared some unconscious sign of recognition on my
part might spoil the effect of her choice. The garden is a very
large one, and we wandered for some time without fixing on a
spot, the sole clue given by Miss X. being that she " could not
get the right place, it wanted a light bush." I pointed out
several, silver maples, etc., in various directions, but none would
do, and she finally walked down to the place where the accident

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE. 355

had occurred, close to a large aucuba (the only one, I believe,
in the shrubbery), and said, " This must be it ; it has the path
and the grass and the bush, as it should, but I expected it to be
much farther from the house."

" ( I may add that I was not myself aware of this bush, but
as I was studying them all at the time we were attacked by the
dog, and as this one is close to the spot where I was knocked
down, it seems possible that ;f was the last I noticed, and it
may therefore have influenced ne more than I knew.' "

Mr. Myers adds :

" I understand that there are a good many acres of ground
round the house in question, and that the dog's attack was
made within fifty yards of the house plainly an unlikely place
for a struggle so long protracted without the arrival of help."

As the crystal picture was described to Mr. Myers
before its verification, there was no room for the
reading back of details from the actual scene.

No. 105. From Miss X.

Miss X. has also succeeded on several occasions in
obtaining telepathic information by holding a shell
to her ear. Of one such case she writes (ibid^
p. 494) :

"On Saturday, June nth, Mr. G. A. Smith spent some time
with us attempting some thought-transference experiments,
which were fairly successful, and interested me greatly. Mr.
Smith left the house soon after seven. After dinner, I took up
the shell which had played some part not very successfully
in our experiments. What occurred is best given in the
following extracts :

"'[June \\th, 1892] Saturday Evening, 8.30. [X. to G. A. S.]

" ' Why when the shell was repeating to me just now what
you said about clambering over rocks at Ramsgate did it stop
suddenly to ask, still in your voice, "Are you a vegetarian
then ? " . . . Perhaps you dined at [your next appointment], and
declined animal food ? Do tell me whether you are responsible
for this irrelevance.'

" 'June I3/A, Monday. [G. A. S. to X.]

" * . . . Without cjgubt the shell spoke the truth. ... As you
know, I left you soon after seven. After walking fifteen minutes

356" APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

I suddenly met Mr. M. . . , I was thinking about points in
connection with the experiments we had been engaged in, and
am afraid I did not follow his remarks very closely . . . but he
made some allusion to little dishes at a vegetarian restaurant
somewhere, and immediately feeling an interest in the question
whether he was a champion of the vegetarian cause, I inter-
rupted him with " Are yott a vegetarian then?" I believe these
are the exact words I used. lie will be sure to remember
this, and must be questioned.'

" <Jiine 23rd [G. A. S. to X.]

" ( I have to-day walked over the course which I took on June
nth, from [Miss X.'s house] to the spot where I met Mr. M. It
took just eleven minutes. If I left you at 7.15, it was probably
about 7.30, or a very few minutes later, that I put the query to
Mr. M. 3 "

Mr. M. was away from home, and though at once applied to
for corroboration, did not send a written statement till June
22nd, when he writes to Mr. Smith (after failing to recall the
exact particulars of the previous conversation) :

"The main fact remains that you asked me, to the best of my
belief bearing on my strong praise of the cooking at the
Oxford Street Cafe whether ' I was a vegetarian.' That is the
core of the whole matter, and that is sound?

From Mr. Smith's statement it would appear that
the voice in the shell reproduced words actually
spoken about three-quarters of an hour before. That
is, as is very generally the case, the clairvoyante
perceived, not the events actually happening at the
moment, but events already passed and chronicled in
the memories of those who took part in them. This
fact, which seems to have been commonly overlooked
by the earlier writers on the subject, is in itself a
very strong argument for the telepathic explanation
of clairvoyance. Knowledge of a contemporaneous
scene might be conceived as due to independent vision
on the part of the percipient ; knowledge of what is
already past can most readily be explained as derived
from other minds. 1

1 Of course in this case there is an alternative explanation viz., that
Miss X. received the impression at the time^ J:he words were spoken,
and that the shell merely developed it for her conscious self.

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE. 357

No. 106. From DR. BACKMAN.

This explanation is very clearly indicated in the
following case, quoted from the paper already referred
to (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vii. p. 216). Dr. Backman, after
describing how occasionally he asked his subject,
while awake, to look in the crystal, writes :

11 1 told the clairvoyant, Miss Olscn, to see in the crystal what

Miss , who was present, had been doing the night before.

After a few moments she said that she saw a meadow in the
crystal, and in it a certain number (giving the number correctly)
of ladies and gentlemen, who were dancing and drinking cham-
pagne. This seemed to her very improbable, because it was
then November, a season that is not chosen in this country
[Sweden] for picnics. She described minutely several other
things which were not written down, but were quite correct,
according to what Miss said later on."

In a letter dated December iQth, 1890, Dr. Backman
adds:

" Several persons were present. No notes were taken, but the
story made so much sensation that it has not been forgotten.

Miss supplemented the account to-day by reminding me

that on looking into the crystal Miss Olsen first gave a perfect

description of a lady with whom Miss had talked on meeting

her in the street the day before; she described her face, her
dress, etc., very accurately, and said besides that she had two
gold rings on the fourth finger of her left hand (a sign of
marriage). After that Miss Olsen suddenly began to laugh and

said : ' Miss is in a merry company they are dancing

the corks of the champagne bottles are jumping/ etc. Miss -
cannot remember that any wrong detail was given by Miss
Olsen, except that she thinks the number of persons present was
not correctly given."

With Dr. Backman's permission we wrote to Miss
asking for her confirmation of these incidents,

and she replied as follows, on March 8th, 1891 :

" I am very willing to give you a description of what I saw and
heard at Dr. Backman's the day he has mentioned in his letter
to you.

" When I came toTiim, he made a hypnotic experiment with
Miss Olsen, who should endeavour to find some papers lying

358 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

somewhere in Dr. Backman's apartment, and, to my great
surprise, she succeeded in finding them. After her being
awakened, Dr. Backman gave her a large glass button and
asked her to look in it and see if she could find out what I had
done the day before. She succeeded even in this to anastonish-
ing degree."

No. 107. From SIR JOSEPH BARNEY.

In the next case, however, the vision appears to
have been as nearly as possible contemporaneous with
the event. Miss A. is a lady who has had many
telepathic experiments of a striking kind. She is
extremely short-sighted and a bad visualist, but her
crystal visions she describes as being clear and well
defined, as if she were looking on a real scene through
strong glasses. The following account of an incident
in Miss A/s experience is given by Sir Joseph
Barnby, who was a witness before the verification.
His account has been revised throughout by Lady
Radnor, who has interpolated an explanatory note.
Sir Joseph writes, in November 1892 :

"I was invited by Lord and Lady Radnor to the wedding of
their daughter, Lady Wilma Bouverie, which took place August
1 5th, 1889.

" I was met at Salisbury by Lord and Lady Radnor and
driven to Longford Castle. In the course of the drive, Lady
Radnor said to me : | We have a young lady staying with us in
whom, I think, you will be much interested. She possesses the
faculty of seeing visions, and is otherwise closely connected
with the spiritual world. Only last night she was looking in her
crystal and described a room which she saw therein, as a kind
of London dining-room. [The room described was not in
London but at L., and Miss A. particularly remarked that the
floor was in large squares of black and white marble as it is
in the big hall at L., where family prayers are said. H. M.
RADNOR.] With a little laugh, she added, ' And the family are
evidently at prayers, the servants are kneeling at the chairs
round the room and the prayers are being read by a tall and
distinguished-looking gentleman with a very handsome, long
greybeard.' With another little laugh, she continued : ' A lady
just behind him rises from her knees and Speaks to him. He
puts her aside with a wave of the hand, and continues his read-

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE. 3 $9

ing.' The young lady here gave a careful description of the
lady who had risen from her knees.'

"Lady Radnor then said: c From the description given, I
cannot help thinking that the two principal personages de-
scribed are Lord and Lady L., but I shall ask Lord L. this evfen-
ing, as they are coming by a later train, and I should like you
to be present when the answer is given. 1

" The same evening, after dinner, I was talking to Lord L.
when Lady Radnor came up to him and said : I want to ask
you a question. I am afraid you will think it a very silly one,
but in any case I hope you will not ask me why I have put the
question?' To this Lord L. courteously assented. She then
said : ' We.e you at home last night ? ' He replied, * Yes. 1 She
said : ' Were you having family prayers at such a time last even-
ing? ' With a slight look of surprise he replied, ' Yes, we were.'
She then said: 'During the course of the prayers did Lady L.
rise from her knees and speak to you, and did you put her aside
with a wave of the hand ? ' Much astonished, Lord L. answered :
' Yes, that was so, but may I inquire why you have asked ^this
question ? 3 To which Lady Radnor answered : ' You promised
you wouldn't ask me that ! ' ;)

In commenting on the account, Mr. Myers adds :

" This incident has been independently recounted to me both
by Lady Radnoi and by Miss A. herself. Another small point not
given by Sir J. Barnby is that Miss A. did not at first under-
stand that family prayers were going on, but exclaimed : * Here
are a number of people coming into the room. Why, they're
smelling their chairs ! ' This scene may have been exactly
contemporaneous." (Proc. S.P.R., vol. viii. pp. 502, 503.)

Spontaneous Clairvoyance.

This incident was unquestionably very odd, but its
evidential value is not lessened by that fact. In-
stances of a similar detailed perception of events at a
distance are occasionally found to occur spontaneously.
Two or three cases coming under this category have
indeed already been quoted in Chapters VII. and VIIL
The type, however, is interesting arid important, and
it is perhaps worth while citing a few more illustrative
cases. It should be noted, however, that whereas in
the cases of incTuced clairvoyance so far considered
there is little evidence of any active contribution on

360 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

the part of other persons to the percipient's impres-
sion, in the majority of the spontaneous instances the
central figure in the vision was undergoing, or had
just emerged from, some unusual experience, and his
condition appears to have contributed to bring about
the result. In the case which follows the vision
represented a dying man. It is noteworthy that,
as in other cases already given (e.g., No. 46), the
percipient's impression presented a substantially
accurate picture of the scene of the drama, but of a
scene which preceded its telepathic representation by
some hours. It seems probable, therefore, that the
vision was merely the reflection of the thoughts of
one of the bystanders. And, indeed, in any case it
would be difficult to attribute the impression to the
mind of the dying man, who could scarcely be
supposed to have a mental picture of himself in the
act of falling overboard. In the present instance it
does not appear that the percipient was personally
acquainted with any of the witnesses of the scene,
amongst whom, on this interpretation, the agent must
be sought, and in this respect the case presents a
parallel to Miss A/s vision.

No. 108. From MRS. PAQUET.

The case comes to us through the American
Branch of the S.P.R. The evidence has been
prepared by Mr. A. B. Wood, who received an
account of the incident from Mrs. Paquet at a
personal interview. Mr. Wood writes on April 29th,
1890: l

"On October 24th, 1889, Edmund Dunn, brother of Mrs.
Agnes Paquet, was serving as fireman on the tug Wolf, a small
steamer engaged in ^ to wing vessels in Chicago Harbour. At
about 3 o'clock A.M.*, the tug fastened to a vessel, inside the
piers, to tow her up the river. While adjusting the tow-line
Mr. Dunn fell or was thrown overboard by the tow-line, and
drowne$." <_

.) vol. vi. pp. 33, 34.

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE. 361

Mrs. PaquePs Statement.

" I arose about the usual hour on the morning of the accident,
probably about six o'clock. I had slept well throughout the
night, had no dreams or sudden awakenings. I awoke feeling
gloomy and depressed, which feeling I could not shake off.
After breakfast my husband went to his work, and, at the
proper time, the children were gotten ready and sent to school,
leaving me alone in the house. Soon after this I decided to
steep and drink some tea, hoping it would relieve me of the
gloomy feelings aforementioned. I went into the pantry, took
down the tea canister, and as I turned around my brother
Edmund or his exact image stood before me and only a few
feet away. The apparition stood with back towards me, or,
rather, partially so, and was in the act of falling forward away
from me seemingly impelled by two ropes or a loop of rope
drawing against his legs. The vision lasted but a moment,
disappearing over a low railing or bulwark, but was very
distinct. I dropped the tea, clasped my hands to my face, and
exclaimed, ' My God ! Ed. is drowned.'

"At about 10.30 A.M. my husband received a telegram from
Chicago, announcing the drowning of my brother. When
he arrived home he said to me, 'Ed. is sick in hospital at
Chicago ; I have just received a telegram,' to which I replied,
' Ed. is drowned ; I saw him go overboard.' I then gave him
a minute description of what I had seen. I stated that my
brother, as I saw him, was bareheaded, had on a heavy, blue
sailor's shirt, no coat, and that he went over the rail or bulwark.
I noticed that his pants' legs were rolled up enough to show the
white lining inside. I also described the appearance of the
boat at the point where my brother went overboard.

" I am not nervous, and neither before nor since have I had
any experience in the least degree similar to that above related.

" My brother was not subject to fainting or vertigo.

"AGNES PAQUET."

Mr. Paqucfs Statement.

"At about 10.30 o'clock A.M., October 24th, 1889, I received
a telegram from Chicago, announcing the drowning of my
brother-in-law, Edmund Dunn, at 3 o'clock that morning. I
went directly home, and, wishing to break the force of the sad
news I had to convey to my wife, I said to her : ' Ed. is sick in
hospital at Chicago ; I have just received a telegram.' To
which she replied : 'Ed. is drowned ; I saw him go overboard. 1
She then described to me the appearance and dress of her
brother as describe? in her statement ; also the appearance of
the boat, etc.

362 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

" I started at once for Chicago, and when I arrived there
I found the appearance of that part of the vessel described by
my wife to be exactly as she had described it, though she had
never seen the vessel ; and the crew verified my wife's descrip-
tion of her brother's dress, etc., except that they thought that he
had his hat on at the time of the accident. They said that Mr.
Dunn had purchased a pair of pants a few days before the
accident occurred, and as they were a trifle long before, wrink-
ling at the knees, he had worn them rolled up, showing the white
lining as seen by my wife."

Visions of this kind arc of rare occurrence with
waking percipients. The preoccupations of the day-
time are probably in themselves sufficient to prevent
the emergence of telepathic impressions under ordin-
ary circumstances. But in the present instance it
will be observed that the vision occurred in an interval
of comparative rest after a period of active occupation.
The feeling of gloom and depression mentioned by
Mrs. Paquet may have marked the period of incuba-
tion, so to speak, of a latent impression of calamity.
But a comparison of the case with those which follow
suggests that this feeling of depression may have
been not the effect, but the necessary condition of the
transmission of the agent's thought, and that a slight
degree of fatigue or ill-health may under certain
circumstances facilitate the emergence of impressions
of this kind. It is, at all events, noteworthy that in
two of the three cases quoted the percipient was
suffering from unusual fatigue or depression, and in
the third was recovering from a long illness. In the
next two cases the percipient's experience may have
been actually synchronous with the events perceived.

No. 109. From MR. F. A. MARKS.

The accounts, from which extracts are given below,
were published in the Oneida Circular (U.S.A.) for
January igth, 1874. The percipient, Mr. F. A. Marks,
writes :

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE. 363

W. C., January i^th, 1874.

"You wish the simple facts of my dream. They are these:
One afternoon in October [1873], being tired, I lay d6wn to rest.
I soon fell asleep ; at least I have no reason for thinking that I
did not sleep. I was not on the bed more than a few minutes.
During this time I dreamed of being near a large body of
water. I knew it to be the Oneida Lake. The wind was blowing
violently, and the waves ran exceedingly high. While standing
near the lake I felt under a strong disposition to sleep. My
eyes were heavy, they would close themselves. It was with an
exertion that I kept them open. I was like a man under night-
mare ; struggling to rouse myself, yet only partially successful.
Darkness vas settling over me. Suddenly, when the wind was
blowing a gale and the waves seemed rolling one over the other,
a small sail-boat broke upon my sight, driven wildly before the
storm. For the moment it seemed as if it would be lost. It
appeared to be at the mercy of the waves, for they rose high
above its sides and almost concealed it at times. It was
manned by two persons one in the after part ; the other trying
to pull down the sail ! Their situation was critical. At this
moment a feeling of horror shot through me as I recognised in
the man whose full length I saw standing near the mast and
struggling with the sail my brother Charles ! The man in the
stern I did not recognise. In the time of the greatest peril,
something I can scarcely tell what; I dare not call it an
apparition gave me the impression that good beings were
interested and watchful over the voyagers.

" The shock I received on seeing my brother did not allow me
to sleep long. On awaking I was troubled, and thought I would
immediately write to Charles, entreating him to be careful.
Afterwards, thinking it merely a dream, I turned my attention
from writing, but I mentioned to Frank Smith that I had a
troubled dream about Charles. After this experience, perhaps
three or four days, a letter was received from Mrs. Maliory
giving an account of Charles' condition when he returned to the
joppa station.

" This letter recalled the dream ; and the coincidence of time
and circumstances made a deep impression on me, though I was
unable then, and am now, to accurately identify the time of my
vision with the time of actual peril described in Mrs. Mallory's
letter. (The letter, however, came so soon as to make it certain
that the peril and the vision were nearly, if not exactly, simul-
taneous.}"

Mr. C. R. Maks explains that on a beautiful day
in October he ad a friend sailed eighteen miles down
the lake in a small open boat They started for the

364 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

return voyage on the day following, at 2.45 P.M., in
threatening weather. They had gone but a short
distance when a violent storm came on, and they were
in a position of considerable peril :

" To add to our apprehensions it began raining, and the wind
instead of slacking was evidently increasing. We had gone
about two miles when I was startled by a cry from Arthur to
'look out for the sail !' as it was shifting to the other side. I
lay down to let the sail pass over me, and got on to the other
side of the boat to counteract the effect of the sail. This is told
in a few words, but the actual event seemed to take a long
time. When down in the boat I heard and felt the swash of the
waves coming in, and for a moment I had the impression that
Arthur was already in the water and that it would soon be my
turn. But on looking round I saw he was still in his place, and
also that we had shipped considerable water. The next thing
was to take in sail, and that quickly. I let go the halyards, but
the sail would not come down, as it was held by a miserable
toggle at the top. In the excitement of the moment I jumped
upon the seat at the imminent risk of capsizing the boat, and
pulled down the sail as far as it would go, which left it about
six feet high. This was still dangerous, as the slack of the sail
was distended, looking like a huge bag This was remedied by
cutting away the rings in the lower part of the sail and winding
up the lower yard. After this, with considerable baling, we got
along tolerably well."

Appended is an extract from a letter written by
Mr. B. Bristol, with whom Mr. F. A. Marks was
working at the time of the vision, corroborating
the accounts given above:

" I was living in Wallingford at that time, raising small fruit.
My principal helper was a young man named Frederic Marks,
a graduate of Yale Scientific School. Frederic had a brother
named Charles, who was living then in Central New York, near
Oneida Lake. One rainy afternoon Frederic went upstairs to
his room and lay down on a lounge. An hour or so after he
came back and said he had just seen his brother Charles in
vision, he thought, as he was not conscious of having been
asleep. Charles was in a small sail-boat, and a companion
with him, who sat in the stern steering. '' There seemed to
be a wild storm prevailing, for the sea ran hrh. Charles stood
in the bow grasping the mast with one arm, with the other he

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE. 365

had hold of the boom, which appeared to have broken loose.
His dangerous position so frightened Frederic that he awoke,
or the vision departed."

In the next case the coincidence was not of itself a
striking one, nor, as the account was not sent to the
American S.P.R. until six years after the event, is
the evidence as good as in the last narrative. But
as an incident in itself trivial has remained in the
memories of the other persons concerned, as well as
in that of the percipient, it may be presumed to
have made some impression at the time. The case is
quoted from the Proceedings of the American S.P.R.
(pp. 464-467)-

No. i io. From MRS. L. Z.

"June 6th, 1887.

"About the end of March 1881, after recovering from
severe illness, while I was yet confined to my bed, I had the
following experience. I was staying at the time at 172 Benefit
Street, Providence, R.I.

" I had been asleep and suddenly became, as it were, half
awake, being conscious of some of the objects in the room. I
then heard a voice as if from the room adjoining, and made an
effort to see the speaker, but I found myself unable to move.
Then appeared, as though in a mist, an ordinary sofa, and
behind it the vague outline of a woman's figure. I did not
recognise the figure, but I recognised the voice which I heard:
it was the voice of my hostess, Mrs. B., who was at that time
not in the house. She was saying, * I am ill and all worn out.
Mrs. Z. has been so nervous, and in such a peculiar mental state,
that it has quite affected my health ' (or words to that effect),
'but I wouldn't for the world have her know it.' I then made a
stronger effort to distinguish the figure, and woke completely to
find myself in my room with my nurse. I inquired of the nurse
who was in the other room, which was used as a sleeping-room
by my child and her nurse. She said that no one was there ;
but I was so convinced that the voice had come from there that
I insisted upon her going and looking. She went, but found no
one there, and the door into the hall was latched. I then
looked at the clock, which was opposite my bed. It was about
5 P.M. In the evening, about 8 P.M., Mrs. B. came up to see
me, and I asked hftr where she had been that afternoon at 5
o'clock. She saidathat she had been at Mrs. G.'s (about two
miles off). I said, 'You were talking about me.' She said,

366 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

' Yes, I was,' looking very much surprised. I repeated to her
what I had seemed to hear her say, word for word. She was
much astonished, and was very curious as to what else I had
heard or seen. I told her that it was all very vague, except the
appearance of the sofa, which I described in detail as being
covered with a peculiar striped linen cloth, green stripes about
two inches wide, alternating- with pale-drab stripes, somewhat
wider, which appeared to be the natural colour of the unbleached
linen. She said that she had spoken the words which I had
heard, and that she was at the time reclining on a sofa, but she
said that the sofa was covered with green velvet.

"Next day Mrs. G. paid me a visit, and after hearing my
story she exclaimed, 'You're right. The sofa had at the time
the covering which you describe; it had just been put on.
There is green velvet under the covering. I suppose Mrs. B.
didn't notice the cover.' ; '

Mrs. B. writes :

"In the year 1881, while living in Providence, on Benefit
Street, No. 272, Mrs. Z. was with me, and during the
winter of 1880 and the spring of 1881 she was in a peculiar
mental state, and on two occasions read my thoughts and heard
my voice. I remember distinctly on one occasion, when I
returned from a visit to a friend, Mrs. Z. repeated the conver-
sation that had passed between my friend and myself, and
spoke of my lying on a lounge that had a striped covering. I
said, ' No, it was a green plush,' but found afterwards she was
right, as the summer covering had been put on.

" ELIZABETH L. B.

"BROOKLYN, N.Y., ///;/* 1887."

Mrs. G. writes from Providence, July I2th, 1887 :

"When I received your note I could not at all recall the cir-
cumstances of the vision you referred to, but afterwards Mrs. B.
refreshed my memory upon the subject, and I distinctly recalled
it. It was as Mrs. Z. related it to you. At the time it occurred,
I remember, I thought it quite marvellous.

" Sickness had prevented my writing you these few lines
before. " C. B. Y. G."

Even if the conversation was correctly reported, it
is probably not beyond the range of conjecture by a
morbidly sensitive invalid; but the details given of
the appearance of the sofa cover seem to indicate a
telepathic faculty, like Dr. Phinuit's; of drawing on

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE. 367

the agent's unconscious perceptions. Mrs. L. Z. gives
also an account of a voluntarily induced clairvoyant
dream, in connection with the same friend, which
occurred about this time, and this account also Mrs.
B. is able to corroborate. The whole case is interest-
ing as serving to indicate that some conditions of
disease may be favourable to this form f telepathy,
and as being the only case which I am able to quote
of spontaneous clairvoyance in which the impressions
transferred were of quite trivial incidents. Mrs. Z.
appears to have been in a state between sleeping and
waking.

The next case occurred in a dream at night. The
dream, it will be noted, caused the percipient to
awake.

No. iii. From MRS. FREESE.

"GRANITE LODGE, CHISELHURST,

March 1884.

" In September 1881 I had another curious dream, so vivid
that I seemed to see it.

" My two boys of eighteen and sixteen were staying in the
Black Forest, under the care of a Dr. Fresenius. I must say
here that I always supposed the boys would go everywhere
together, and I never should have supposed that in that lonely
country, so new to them, they would be out after dark. My
husband atid I were staying at St. Leonards, and one Saturday
night I woke at about 12 o'clock (rather before, as I heard it
strike) having just seen vividly a dark night on a mountain, and
my eldest boy lying on his back at the bottom of some steep

Elace, his eyes wide open, and saying, ' Good-bye, mother and
ither, I shall never see you again.' I woke with a feeling of
anxiety, and the next morning when I told it to my husband,
though we both agreed it was absurd to be anxious, yet he would
write and tell the boys we hoped they would never go out alone
after dark. To my surprise my eldest boy, to whom I wrote the
dream, wrote back expressing his great astonishment, for on
that Saturday night he was coming home over the mountains,
past II o'clock ; it was pitch dark, and he slipped and fell down
some 12 feet or so, and landed on his back, looking up to the
sky. However, he was not much hurt, and soon picked himself
up and got home $11 right. He did not say what thoughts
passed through his mind as he fell."

368 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

In answer to inquiries, Mrs. Freese adds :

"Before my son wrote about his fall in the Black Forest, I
related my dream to my husband, and as he seemed a little
moved by it, I wrote an account of it to my boy, saying his father
did not wish them to be out after dark alone. I had not told my
boy when it was, deeming that immaterial, but when in his
letter, received days after, he said, 'Was it Saturday night,
because then so-and-so ? ' I remembered what I should not
otherwise have noted, that it was Saturday night ; for on the
Sunday morning my husband, being much worried about some
business matter, elected to spend the morning with me in the
fields instead of going to church, and as much to divert his mind
as anything I related to him my dream of the night before."

Mrs. Freese sent us the letter from her son, which
contained the following passage:

" With regard to your dream : did you dream it on September
3rd ? if so it was on that night, coming home rather late, that
I fell down a precipice of 8 feet, or perhaps more, in the dark,
and might have broken my neck, but didn't. However, I don't
think you will find me walking about after dark more than I can
help, as the roads are very dark, and the fogs in the village
awful.

"FRED. E. FREESE."

[September 3rd, 1881, was a Saturday.]

Mr. Freese wrote on March /th, 1884, to confirm
his wife's account of the dream.

An account by Dr. Gibotteau, given in the Annales
des Sciences Psychiques, Nov.-Dec. 1892, deserves con-
sideration in this connection. It is the record of a
series of unusually successful experiments in the
transfer of visual images. But the success obtained
was apparently due to a condition of spontaneous
clairvoyant perceptivity on the part of the subject.
The percipient, who was throughout in a state not
clearly distinguishable from that of normal wakeful-
ness, was a head-nurse at the hospital to which Dr.
Gibotteau was attached. The occurrence took place
in 1888. Madame R. has now remarried and Dr.
Gibotteau has lost sight of her, so tnat her testimony

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE. 369

cannot be obtained, and unfortunately Dr. Gibotteau
appears not to have committed the incident to writing
until 1892. The account therefore represents merely
the general impression left after the lapse of some
years upon the memory of a trained observer by a very
unusual and striking experience. Briefly, Dr. Gibot-
teau reports that he succeeded in inducing in Madame
R., by the mere silent will, an immense number of
striking hallucinatory, or rather semi-hallucinatory
mental pictures. The ideas thus transferred included
transformations and imaginary movements of objects
actually present in the room ; the appearance of
human figures and animals, a serpent, a rabbit, a
dog, horses, a bear rampant ; and the disappearance
of Dr. Gibotteau himself, leaving behind him an
empty arm-chair. The stance lasted for nearly three
hours, with very few failures of any kind, and left the
narrator much exhausted. 1

The experience, as described, it will be seen, was of
an almost unprecedented kind. It is by no means
clear that under a natural classification either this or
others of the somewhat heterogeneous phenomena
described in the present and preceding chapters would
be grouped under the same genus, or that any of
them are rightly called telepathic. They are pro-
visionally ascribed to telepathy, in the sense already
explained (p. 326, Chapter XIV.), because if we accept
the facts at all, that appears to be the cheapest
solution. The writer is not committed to telepathy
as the true explanation; he has adopted it provision-
ally, as an alternative to some hypothetical faculty
of direct intuition beyond the range of sense. If to
any reader who accepts the writer's estimate of the
alleged facts as beyond chance or misrepresentation,
the hypothesis of telepathy appears in such cases to
be strained, it may be replied that when the choice of

1 A translation of^Dr. Gibotteau's account is given by Mr. Myers,
Proc. S.P.tf., vol. viii. pp. 468, 469.

2A

370 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

explanation seems to lie between telepathy and some
faculty even more dubious and more remote from
ordinary analogies, it is right that the hypothesis of
telepathy should be strained if necessary, to the
breaking-point before we invoke a stage-deity to cut
the knot.

371

CHAPTER XVL

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS.

CONSIDERATION more or less adequate has now been
given to the various phenomena in which there is
proof apparent of the action of telepathy. The ex-
perimental evidence has shown that a simple sensa-
tion or idea may be transferred from one mind to
another, and that this transference may take place
alike in the normal state and in the hypnotic trance.
It has been shown also that the transferred idea
may be reproduced in the percipient's organism under
various disguises ; at one time, for instance, it may
cause vague distress or terror, or a blind impulse to
action ; under other circumstances it may inspire
definite and complicated movements, as those in-
volved in writing. Again, it may induce sleep or
even more deep-seated organic effects, such as hysteria
or local anaesthesia. Once more, it may be embel-
lished with imagery presumably furnished by the
percipient's own mind, and may appear as a dream
or hallucination representing the distant agent. And
these various results may be obtained either by delib-
erate experiment ; as the result of some crisis affecting
another mind ; or, lastly, as following on some peculiar
state of receptivity established, under conditions not
yet clearly ascertained, in the percipient's mind.

But it would not be reasonable to infer that the few
hundreds or thousands of examples collected during
the last twelve years by a few groups of investigators
exhaust the rJbssibilities or indicate the limits of
telepathic action. By those, at least, who accept the

372 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

demonstration of telepathy as a real agency it will
hardly be anticipated that its action should be con-
fined to the comparatively few cases which present
a coincidence sufficiently striking to be quoted as
ostensive instances. That the distribution, indeed,
of telepathic sensitiveness at the present time should
be sporadic as the distribution of a musical ear or
the power of visualisation is sporadic may appear
not improbable. But we should be prepared to find
instances of its presumptive operation which fall below
the level of demonstration, and might with almost
equal plausibility be referred to some other cause.
And such instances we do certainly find, in simul-
taneous dreams and in vague presentiments, and in
innumerable coincidences of thought and expression
in ordinary life. And the suggestion that the same
power may serve as an auxiliary to more completely
systematised modes of expression, though incapable
of proof, may yet be thought worthy of consideration.
It is conceivable, for instance, that it may aid the
intercourse of a mother with her infant child, that
the influence of the orator may be due not only to
the spoken word, and that even in our daily con-
versation thoughts may pass by this means which
find no outward expression. The personal influence
of the operator in hypnotism may perhaps be regarded
as a proof presumptive of telepathy. When all the
phenomena of " mesmerism " were attributed, by the
few who believed in them, to the passage of a fluid
from the mesmerist to his patient, it was easy to
credit the successful operator with as large an endow-
ment of available fluid as the facts might seem to
require. But from those who assert that the results
arc not merely explicable, but are in practice to be
explained, as due to suggestion alone, no entirely
satisfactory explanation has ever been forthcoming of
the observed differences between one operator and
another. It is difficult to believe *that Ltebeault,
Bernheim, Schrenck-Notzing, Van *Eedcn, Lloyd

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 3/3

Tuckey, Bramwell, etc., have succeeded where so
many others have failed, merely through the exercise
of greater patience, or the possession of an established
reputation, which after all is based on the successes
which it is now invoked to explain. 1 And the fact that
a large proportion of well- known hypnotists have
acted as agents in successful telepathic experiments
of an unusual kind is a further argument in the same
direction. There are, moreover, some more dubious
beliefs, for the most part discredited by educated
persons, yet persisting with a singular vitality, which
receive in telepathy a simple and perhaps sufficient
explanation. It has already been shown that some
of the marvels of Dr. Dee and the Spccularii have
been paralleled by recent visions in "the crystal,"
revealing events then passing at a distance unknown
to the seer; and that the nucleus of fact in some
legends of ghosts and haunted houses is probably to
be sought in a telepathic hallucination. And many
of the alleged wonders of witchcraft and of ancient
magic in general, when disentangled from the ac-
cretions formed round them by popular myth and
superstition, present a marked resemblance to some
of the facts recorded in this book. It is obvious, for
instance, that the same power which inhibited Mr.
Beard's utterance (p. 83) could have prevented the
witch's victim from repeating the Lord's Prayer. And
Mr. Godfrey (p. 228), in the sixteenth century, might
have found that to appear in two places at once would
be perilously strong evidence of unlawful powers. 2

1 The fact that most, if not all, the medical men quoted would them-
selves reject the explanation hinted at in the text, and would regard
their own success as due rather to skill and patience than to any specific
endowment, should, of course, have due weight, but cannot be regarded
as decisive.

2 See also the account given by Dr. Gibotteau in the Annales des
Sciences Psychiques of the power possessed by Berthe (see ante, p. 139)
of causing people to stumble or lose their sense of direction. Mr.
Andrew Lang has recently drawn attention to the remarkable resem-
blances between acccflmts of medieval magic, etc., and modern tele-
pathic phenomena (see, e.g., his article in Cont. Review, Sept. 1893).

3/4 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

But there are two special kinds of marvejs, whose
occurrence has been widely vouched for within quite
recent times by men of proved ability and trained in
the experimental methods of the modern laboratory,
which deserve to be considered in this connection
the influence of metals and magnets on the human
organism, and the physical phenomena of Spiritualism.
Baron von Reichenbach in the last generation pub-
lished the results of numerous observations on various
sensitives, who alleged that they could see flame-
like emanations from crystals, from the poles of a
magnet, from the bodies of the sick, and from newly-
made graves, and that they experienced various sen-
sations from contact with magnets and metals. On
the evidence of Reichenbach's prolonged and laborious
researches the existence of this supposed magnetic
sense obtained a certain degree of credence. Accord-
ingly the S.P.R., shortly after its foundation in 1882,
conducted a series of control experiments on a number
of persons with a powerful electro-magnet, which was
alternately magnetised and demagnetised by a com-
mutator in an adjoining room. Of forty-five persons
tested three professed to see luminous appearances
on the poles of the magnet; and on two or three
occasions they were able to indicate with surprising
accuracy throughout a whole evening the exact
moment at which the current was switched on or
off the light, as they alleged, appearing or disap-
pearing simultaneously. But these isolated successes
were not repeated, and the very conditions of the ex-
periment implied that it was known to some of those
present whether or not the magnet was charged. Now
it is obvious that unless special precautions are taken
to guard against the telepathic 1 communication of
this knowledge all experiments of the kind must
be inconclusive ; and other investigators have failed

1 It is possible that we need not go so far as telepathy for an explana-
tion. Slight indications unconsciously apprehended may have furnished
the necessary clue in all cases, as they almost certainly did in some.

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 375

to detect any trace of the so-called magnetic
sense. 1

Within the last few years this supposed sensitive-
ness has appeared in another form. M. Babinski of
the Salpetriere claims to have shown that certain
ailments such, for example, as hemiplegia and
hysterical mutism can be transferred by the in-
fluence of a magnet from one side of the body to
another, or from one patient to another. MM. Binet
and Fere 2 find that unilateral hallucinations can be
shifted by the same influence from one side of the
body to the other, and that in general memories and
sensations real or imaginary can be modified and
destroyed by the magnet. And MM. Bourru, Burot,
Luys, and others have published whole treatises deal-
ing with the alleged influence of various drugs and
metals on certain patients. A few drops of laurel-
water enclosed in a flask and brought near to the
patient, will, according to these writers, induce
ecstasy; ipecacuanha will cause vomiting; alcohol
intoxication, and so on ; each drug, though securely
stoppered and sealed, giving rise to the appropriate
physical symptoms in the patient. However, MM.
Bernheim, 3 Belboeuf, 4 and Jules Voisin 6 showed
some time since, and Mr. Ernest Hart 6 has lately
repeated the demonstration, that the same results can
be made to follow if the patient is led to believe that
an inert piece of wood is a magnet, or that an empty
flask contains a powerful drug. It may be fairly
assumed therefore that when special precautions are
not shown to have been taken and there is little

i Sec l^roc. S.P.R.) vol. i. p. 230, vol. ii. p. 56; Phil. Mag., April
1883; Proc. Anier. S.P.R., p. 116.

- Animal Magnetism (International Science Series), pp. 264 et seq*
Cf. Ottolenghi and Lombroso, in Rev. Phil., Oct. 1889, on polarisa-
tion of hallucinations by magnets.

3 Rev. deVHypnotisme, Dec. 1887.

4 Ibid., June 1887*

5 Rev. des Science* Hypnotiques, 1887-88, p. III.

6 Brit. Med. Journal > Jan. 1893.

376 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

evidence that such precautions were as a rule taken
suggestion by word or look would be sufficient to
account for the phenomena observed. But it is
obvious that negative experiments of this kind are
not in themselves conclusive; and it is difficult to
believe that all the results recorded by investigators
of such experience as Babinski, Fe"re*, and others
could have been due simply to carelessness on their
part, or hypnotic cunning on the part of the subject.
Indeed, in commenting on the counter experiments
made by M. Jules Voisin, MM. Bourru and Burot
expressly state that if the results obtained by them
are to be attributed to suggestion, as he proposes, it is
" une suggestion sans parole, sans geste, sans pensfe
mcme" 1 But a suggestion without word, gesture, or
conscious thought is an accurate description of one
form of telepathic suggestion ; and if such suggestion
has indeed been at work we have an explanation of
the otherwise inexplicable reliance placed by these
French investigators upon experiments so much con-
troverted, and their faith in an interpretation so little
supported by scientific analogy.

That in general the so-called physical phenomena
of Spiritualism are due to self-deception and ex-
aggeration on the one hand, and to fraud on the
other, is a proposition which to most readers, it is
likely, will seem to need little demonstration. And
there are of course many cases, such as the recent
experiments with Eusapia Palladino 2 at Milan, where,
though competent observers Richet, Schiaparelli,
Lombroso, Brofferio have seen things beyond their
power to explain, yet the line between what was
possible to fraudulent ingenuity and what was not

1 Rev. des Sciences Hypnotiques^ 1887-88, p. 151. See also Force
Psychique et Suggestion Mentale^ by Dr Claude Perronnet, pp. 21-26,
who shows clearly how thought-transference may vitiate many hypnotic
experiments. I

2 Annales des Sciences Psychiques, Jan. -Feb. iC93; Proc. S.P.R. %
vol. ix. p. 218.

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 377

possible cannot be drawn with sufficient sharpness to
warrant the invocation of any new agency. But
there are other records which cannot be so summarily
dismissed. Thus Mr. Crookes, F.R.S., 1 has described
the movements of a balance, specially constructed for
the purpose of the experiments, in the presence of
himself and other observers, under conditions which
seemed to render it impossible for the effects to have
been produced by the muscular force of any of those
present. Lord Lindsay has testified to having seen
Home's stature elongated to the extent of 1 1 inches,
and heavy tables and other articles of furniture rise
in the air without visible support, and to having him-
self, at Home's instance, handled, and seen others
handle, red-hot coals with impunity. Other witnesses
of repute have testified to the appearance of strange
luminous bodies, the raining down of liquid scent, the
production of inexplicable musical sounds and other
phenomena equally marvellous. 2

Now it is difficult to believe that Mr. Crookes and
those with him could in their normal senses have
imagined movements of a self-registering balance
which never really took place, or have failed to
detect actual movements on Home's part ; or that
Home could have seemed to Lord Lindsay and
others to add some fraction of a cubit to his
stature or to float unsupported in the air, when
he was really only stretching cramped muscles, or
supporting himself on a captive balloon, or by
unseen wires ; or that when he was seen to carry
hot coals about the room, and to place them, still
glowing, upon the bare head of Mr. S. C. Hall, he
relied upon the observers overlooking such incon-
spicuous objects as a pair of tongs and an asbestos

1 Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. p. 98.

2 See, for instance, the Report on Spiritualism of the London Dia-
lectical Society; Experiences of Mr. Stainton Moses in Proc. S.P.R.,
vol. ix. p. 245; and* article, " Spiritualism," in the Encyclopedia
Britanmca, by Mrs. Kenry Sidgwick, and in Chambers' Encyclopedia.
by Alfred Russel Wallace, F.R.S.

APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

skull-cap alternatives which must have been at
least as obvious at the time to the observers who,
by recording these things, have imperilled their
reputation for scientific acumen, and even for com-
mon sense, as now to their irresponsible critics.
But it is certainly not less difficult to believe, on
such grounds as these, in the discovery of a new
physical force or rather new forces ; for the energy
which could move a balance cannot properly be
assumed to be identical with the energy which
could increase Home's stature, or restrain the
action of fire ; or, as elsewhere recorded, bring
delicate flowers uninjured through closed doors.
But fortunately we are not compelled to choose
between the alternatives of such almost incredible
stupidity and a multiplicity of new modes of
energy. It has been plausibly suggested that the
observers in such cases arc the subjects of a
collective hallucination. It is true that we have
no precise analogy to support such a hypothesis.
The hallucinations of hypnotism can be imposed
upon several subjects simultaneously by dint of
repeated verbal suggestions. But here there were
none of the recognised preliminaries to the hypnotic
trance : in many of the recorded cases the observers
did not know what to expect, and it is clear that
verbal suggestion was not essential to the results;
while there is no trace of that break in the continuity
of consciousness which elsewhere marks the passage
from the hypnotic to the normal state. Moreover,
in some of the best-attested cases it was the pre-
sumed operator, and not the witnesses, who was
entranced. Assuredly if the phenomena described
were due to hypnotic hallucination, it was halluci-
nation without any of the characteristic features of
hypnotism. But if we assume as in the absence
of any evidence to the contrary we are entitled,
if not bound, to assume that th$ observers were
in their normal state, we can find no nearer parallel

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 379

to this supposed hallucination than the collective
telepathic hallucinations of which examples have
been given in Chapter XII. 1

It is true that the parallel is by no means exact.
The hypothesis requires us to suppose not merely
that investigators of spiritualistic phenomena are liable
to sec, by hallucination, things which are not there,
but also that they are occasionally withheld, by hallu-
cination, from seeing actual movements and objects.
For Mr. Crookes' automatic balance recorded a real
movement; flowers and other objects have actually
been brought into locked rooms ; furniture has
been dcmonstrably displaced, or has even moved
before the eyes of the investigators, and been found
at the conclusion of the experiment in its new
position ; an actual blister was raised on Lord
Lindsay's skin by the touch of a live coal which
Home held in a hand apparently bare. Now if
these results were clue to the action of known
forces, muscular and other, it seems clear that some
of the medium's movements and appliances escaped
observation. We have, however, no record, so far
as I know, of collective negative hallucination tele-
pathically caused. But it may be pointed out that
whilst it is only in unusual circumstances that a
hallucination of the kind could attract sufficient
attention to be recorded, negative hallucinations can
be imposed without difficulty on a hypnotic subject.
So that their telepathic origination in the circum-
stances suggested presents no greater a priori diffi-
culty than that of positive hallucinations. There
are, however, other differences between the col-

1 It need hardly be said that the oft -quoted story of the European
who came late and unobserved to the performance of an Indian Fakir,
and from a distant tree saw him cutting up a pumpkin when the
crowd saw him cutting up a child, is merely ben trovato. Nor r indeed,
until we have contemporaneous accounts of these performances from
carefully trained observers is there need of any such hypothesis to
explain the feats of Phdinn jugglery. See Mr. Hodgson's article in
Proc. S.P.R., vol. ix. p. 354.

380 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

lective hallucinations recorded in Chapter XII. and
those which the hypothesis requires. For the former
were for the most part vague and transitory, and were
rarely shared by more than two persons ; whilst the
hypothetical hallucinations of the spiritualistic stance
are persistent, and may affect several persons simul-
taneously and to an equal extent. It may be
suggested, however, that the different conditions in
the latter case the common expectancy, the attune-
ment of the minds of all present to a common mood,
the absence of external solicitation to the senses
may be sufficient to account for the differing charac-
teristics of the phenomena observed.

It may be objected that the problem does not
require the intervention of such a Dens ex machina
as collective hallucination ; that fraud and mal-
observation are adequate to account for all the
facts reported. I confess that I am unable so
lightly to set aside the deliberate testimony of
men of proved scientific distinction, whose word
is still regarded as authoritative in observations
not less delicate, and for results to the layman
hardly less dubious. But I do not suggest that
the phenomena, however interpreted, arc likely to
add anything to the proof of telepathy. I would
merely urge that, as until the possibility of thought-
transference in its various forms has been patiently
and rigorously excluded, odylic flames and magnetic
influences must remain unproven, so, in dealing
with that residuum of evidence for the physical
phenomena called spiritualistic which appears in-
explicable by fraud and malobservation, the possi-
bility of collective hallucination telepathically caused
should be kept in view. 1

It should be observed that the treatment of tele-

1 The explanation suggested in the text for the physical phenomena
of Spiritualism is worked out in some detail b," Von Hartmann, the
philosopher of the unconscious, in a little treatise^ on Spiritism, which
has been translated into English by "C.C.M.," 1885. But Von

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 381

pathy by those responsible for the word involves as
little of theory as Newton's conception of gravitation.
What Newton did was to find the simplest general
expression for the observed facts by saying that the
heavenly bodies acted upon each other with a certain
measurable force. He did not attempt to explain the
mode of this action. And whilst succeeding astron-
omers have for the most part been content to follow
Newton's example, the science has, nevertheless,
advanced in a steady and continuous progression.
So the conception of telepathy simply colligates the
observed facts of spontaneous and experimental
thought-transference, as instances of the action of one
mind upon another. The nature of the action the
theory docs not discuss ; it merely defines it nega-
tively, as being outside the normal sensory channels.
In accordance with this view, Mr. Gurney, and the
English investigators generally, have consistently
employed psychical terms in their discussion f the
subject : they have spoken of the transmission of
ideas, not neuroses, and of the affection of mind by
mind, rather than of brain by brain. 1 This treatment
involves no prejudgment of the question. Whatever
may be the nature of the cause, we know the effects
at present only in their psychical aspect, and in
default of a physical theory, as psychical it seemed
convenient to discuss them. This mode of speech is
of course as legitimate as the popular usage which
permits us, when the sun's rays strike upon our retina,
to ignore the intervening physical processes, and to
express only the psychical result, " I see the sun."
But Mr. Gurney and his colleagues were further
influenced in adopting and maintaining this usage by
a conviction that the advancement of the subject has

Ilartmann believes that some of the phenomena are produced by a
hypothetical nerve-force under the direction of the somnambulic self
of the medium a prod'gality of hypotheses which in the circumstances
is surely superfluous. *

1 See l y hantasws of the Living^ vol. i. pp. 110-113.

382 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

not hitherto been dependent upon the discovery of
physical correlates for the observed psychical action,
and that the energy which would be diverted to
the search for explanations, could be more fruitfully
employed on the still imperfect demonstration that
there is something to be explained.

But it is obvious that this attitude of reserve can-
not be maintained indefinitely. Since Mr. Gurney
wrote the sum-total of observations and experiments
has steadily increased, and there is hardly any longer
room for doubt that we have something here which no
physical processes at present known can adequately
account for. It is not possible to observe facts with-
out speculating on the underlying law : it is the law
indicated by the facts, more than the facts themselves,
which is of permanent interest to the human mind.
Nor indeed can any fruitful observation be long main-
tained, which is not accompanied, guided, and stimu-
lated by theoretical speculation. Professor Lodge has
called upon us, in this matter, to " press the doctrine
of ultimate intelligibility;" 1 and in so saying he has
at once given articulate expression to an impulse from
whose blind urgency no student of nature can escape,
and has formulated what is after all the differentia
of the scientific mind. The average man accepts
things as they are ; the man of science presses the
doctrine of ultimate intelligibility.

But however legitimate at the present stage of
the inquiry theoretical speculation might seem, such
speculation has for the most part been conspicuously
wanting in the treatment of the subject by those best
qualified to deal with it. At any rate the attitude
of most continental investigators, like that of their
English colleagues, has been a purely positive one.
They have contented themselves with describing in
psychical terms the psychical phenomena which they

<

1 Presidential Address to the Section of Mathematics and Physics of
the British Association, August 1891.

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 383

have observed. There are, indeed, some competent
inquirers at the present time who incline to attribute
thought-transference to the direct action of mind upon
mind, or to some process yet more transcendent, just
as in the last generation there were some who thought
they were able to discern, in such instances as came
under their notice, proof of the agency of disembodied
spirits. And Von Hartmann, boldly accepting the
facts wholesale, ascribes them to a communication
between finite minds effected through the inter-
mediation of the Absolute. 1 But until we have ex-
hausted the resources of the world which we know,
we should perhaps conclude, with Mistress Quickly,
that there is no need to trouble ourselves with any
such thoughts yet.

Any attempt at a physical explanation is, of
course, beset with many difficulties. To begin
with, there is no sense-organ for our presumed
new mode of sensation; nor at the present stage
of physiological knowledge is there likelihood that
we can annex any as yet unappropriated organ
to register telepathic stimuli, as the semicircular
canals are supposed to register the movements of the
body in space. In lacking an elaborate machinery
specially adapted for receiving its messages and con-
centrating them on the peripheral end of the nerves,
telepathy would thus seem to be on a par with radiant
energy affecting the general surface of the body. But
the sensations of heat and cold are without quality or
difference, other than difference of degree ; whereas
telepathic messages, as we have seen, purport often to
be as detailed and precise as those conveyed by the
same radiant energy falling on the organs of vision.

1 u If all individuals of higher or lower order are rooted in the Absolute,
retrogressively in this they have a second connection among themselves,
and there is requisite only a restoration of the rapport or telephonic
junction ( Teleplionanschhtss} between two individuals in the Absolute,
by an intense interest cT the will, to bring about the unconscious inter-
change between them without sense-mediation." (Spiritism^ by Ed.
von- Hartmann, trans. C.C.M., p. 75.)

384 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

As regards the mode of transmission, we find first
the theory of a fluid, which owes its origin to Mesmer,
and was in vogue at a time when fluids were still
fashionable in scientific circles. Dr. Barty 1 has
recently revived this theory in a new form. He
alleges that there is a nerve-energy {force neurique
rayonnante] which radiates from the eyes, the fingers,
and the breath of the operator, and is capable of
producing various effects upon hypnotised subjects.
He finds that a knitting-needle acts as a conductor
for this force, and water as a non-conductor; that the
nerve-rays can be focussed by a magnifying-glass,
refracted by a prism, and reflected from a mirror or
other plane surface at an angle equal to the angle of
incidence. Dr. Barty has omitted to state whether
in the latter case the rays are polarised, nor has
he shown whether the force varies inversely to the
square of the distance. But the consideration of these
remarkable results need hardly detain us long, since
they can all readily be explained by suggestion,
verbal or telepathic.

If we leave fluids and radiant nerve-energy on one
side, we find practically only one mode suggested for the
telepathic transference viz., that the physical changes
which are the accompaniments of thought or sensa-
tion in the agent are transmitted from the brain as
undulations in the intervening medium, and thus
excite corresponding changes in some other brain,
without any other portion of the organism being
necessarily implicated in the transmission. This
hypothesis has found its most philosophical champion
in Dr. Ochorowicz, who has devoted several chapters
of his book, De la Siiggestion mentale, to the dis-
cussion of the various theories on the subject. He
begins by recalling the reciprocal convertibility of all
physical forces with which we are acquainted, and

1 Des Proprittts physiques tfune force par ticttittre du corps humain,
1882.

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 385

especially draws attention to. what he calls the law of
reversibility, a law which he illustrates by a descrip-
tion of the photophone. The photophone is an in-
strument in which a mirror is made to vibrate to the
human voice. The mirror reflects a ray of light,
which, vibrating in its turn, falls upon a plate of
selenium, modifying its electric conductivity. The
intermittent current so produced is transmitted
through a telephone, and the original articulate sound
is reproduced. Now in hypnotised subjects and
M. Ochorowicz does not in this connection treat of
thought-transference between persons in the normal
state the equilibrium of the nervous system, he sees
reason to believe, is profoundly affected. The nerve-
energy liberated in this state, he points ut, " cannot
pass beyond " the subject's brain " without being
transformed. Nevertheless, like any other force, it
cannot remain isolated; like any other force it escapes,
but in disguise. Orthodox science allows it only one
way out, the motor nerves. These are the holes in
the dark lantern through which the rays of light
escape. . . . Thought remains in the brain, just as
the chemical energy of the galvanic battery remains
in the cells, but each is represented outside by its
correlative energy, which in the case of the battery
is called the electric current, but for which in the
other we have as yet no name. In any case there
is some correlative energy for the currents of the
motor nerves do not and cannot constitute the only
dynamic equivalent of cerebral energy to repre-
sent all the complex movements of the cerebral
mechanism." 1

Considered purely in its physiological aspect, such
a theory appears to present no special difficulty; or
rather, to put the matter more exactly, our ignor-
ance of the ultimate nature of nerve-processes is so
nearly complete as to permit us to theorise in vacua,

1 De la Suggestion mentale, Paris, i$87, pp. 511, 512.

25

386 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

with little risk of encountering any insuperable
obstacle. It is true that Professor G. Stanley Hall, 1
in commenting on such physical theories of telepathy,
maintains that they contravene well-established
physical laws: "The law of 'isolated conductivity, 1
formulated fully by Johannes Muller, which Helm-
holtz compares in importance to the law of gravity,
first brought order into the field of neurology by
insisting that impressions never jump from one fibre
to another. ... Is it likely that a neural state should
jump from one brain to another, through a great
interval, when intense stimuli on one nerve cannot
affect another in the closest contact with it ? " But
it is clear that the "law" in question is merely a
generalisation from observed facts, and from facts,
moreover, not of the same order as those now under
discussion. For the question here is not of the
affection of another nerve-fibre in the same organism,
but of a nerve-centre in another organism. And
whilst it must have seemed d priori probable that
between nerves belonging to the same system induc-
tion would not take place, because the alternative
could hardly fail to be injurious to the organism, and
that the susceptibility to such induction, if originally
present, would have been eliminated in the course of
evolution, it is at least theoretically conceivable that
between different organisms induction might have
persisted as innocuous, or even have been developed
as positively beneficial.

In current theories it is assumed that; there are
changes in brain-substance correlated with psychical
events, and that these changes, in their ultimate
analysis, are of the nature of vibrations. That these
vibrations should be capable of in some way propa-
gating themselves through the surrounding medium
would seem therefore a natural corollary. The real
objections to such physical theories appear to be of a

1 American Journal of Psychology, vol. i., No. I.

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 387

more general kind viz., the improbability that any
such capacity of nervous induction should have
remained unobserved until now; and the difficulty of
supposing vibrations so minute to be capable of
producing effects at so great a distance, and to have
a selective capacity so finely adjusted that out of all
the thousands of persons within the radius, say, of
such a brain-wave as that set a-going by Mr. Cleave
(p. 234), nly one set of brain-molecules should be
stirred to sympathetic vibration. The first difficulty
in its psychical aspect has already been touched upon
at the commencement of this chapter, and need not
here be further conside* :d. The second is more
serious. It is difficult to find an exact parallel for
the transmission across a considerable intervening
space of energy at once so minute in quantity and so
highly specialised. Mr. W. H. Preece has indeed
shown that a current can be induced in a closed
circuit at a distance of some three miles or more,
and Professor Lodge has reminded us (loc. citl)
that " all magnets are sympathetically connected,
so that, if suitably suspended, a vibration from one
disturbs others, even though they be distant ninety-
two million miles/ 1 But the forces engaged are in
the one case on a commercial, in the other on a
cosmic scale. Yet the difficulty is not, perhaps,
insuperable. The amount of energy which has been
proved capable, at the distance of half a mile, of
inducing sleep in a French peasant woman may be
readily conceived as not more attenuated than those
"sweet influences" which are yet potent enough to
summon up before us the vision of the Pleiades or
the glowing nebula of Orion. Nor need the difficulty
of selection trouble us much; for, after all, one of
the chief characteristics of organic life in general
is the power a power ever more differentiated in
the higher organisms of reacting only to selected
stimuli. In snort, it is too soon to say that any
physical communication between living beings of

388 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

the kind suggested is inconceivable. We shall be
justified in affirming or denying its possibility on
the day when we have guessed the secret of our
own existence, and are able to explain how some
fraction of a millegramme of albumen can contain
not merely the promise of life, but the germ of a
particular and individual organism, which shall reveal
its own pedigree and contain in itself an epitome of
life on our planet.

Until, therefore, we know more of the nature of
the cerebral changes which are presumed to be the
physical concomitants of thought, we are at most
entitled to suggest that some kind of vibrations,
propagated somehow through a conjectural medium
from an unspecified nerve-centre, may possibly ex-
plain the transference of thought. Our main justifica-
tion at the present time for discussing theories which
aim at some solution is that they may indicate the
lines on which experiment and observation may be
usefully directed. Thus, it is not known how far the
results depend on the state of health of the parties to
the experiments, on their occupations and state of
consciousness at the time ; whether blood-relationship
or familiar intimacy between agent and percipient is
conducive to success ; or whether the transmission is
in any way affected by the introduction of more than
one agent. And though some progress has been
made in tracing the development of the transmitted
idea after it has reached the percipient's mind, ob-
servations on the relation of the agent's impression to
that of the percipient are at present few and isolated.
The difficulties of systematic experiment in this
direction are considerable, as will be apparent to any
one who carefully studies the reports of the Brighton
experiments (pp. 65-80) ; but it would seem that
further investigation might be expected to throw
light upon such questions as whether the percipient's
original impression is necessarily of the* same kind as
the agent's ; whether in the case of visual impres-

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 389

sions lateral inversion or complementary colours can
be detected, and so on.

Once more, but little has been learnt of the purely
mechanical conditions under which the transmission
is effected. There are indeed indications that contact
facilitates the transference; 1 but from the difficulty
of discriminating, when contact is permitted, between
thought-transference and muscle-reading, even thus
much can hardly be affirmed with certainty. On the
analogy of the known physical forces it is of course to
be anticipated that the difficulty of effecting telepathic
communication would increase very rapidly with the
distance. Yet even here experimental verification is
difficult to obtain. It is obvious, indeed, in our ex-
periments, that an increased interval between agent
and percipient, especially if a wall or floor is made to
intervene, has affected the results prejudicially. But
it is by no means clear, as already said, how far the
observed effects are to be attributed, not to the
physical obstacle of the intervening space, but to the
psychical effect produced thereby on the parties to
the experiment.

There is, however, a difference, already referred to,
in the characteristics of the ideas transferred at close
quarters, and those transferred at a distance, which is
so marked and so general as to call for some explana-
tion of this kind. In the experiments conducted in
the same room or house, and in most of the spon-
taneous cases at close quarters, the idea transferred
corresponds to a mental image consciously present
to the mind of the agent But the cases, whether
experimental or spontaneous, of such detailed trans-
ference at a distance of more than a mile or two are
very few too few to justify any valid generalisation.
For^in most cases of thought-transference at a distance
the idea transferred is one not consciously present to
the agent's mind at all the idea of his own personality.

1 See, for instance, Professor Lodge's paper in Proc. S.P.&, vol.
vil p. 374.

390 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

To some critics indeed (see Mind> 1887, p. 280) this
difficulty has seemed so serious as to suggest doubts
of the propriety of referring the two sets of results to
a common category ; and Von Hartmann, whilst
claiming, as already said, connection through the
Absolute as the explanation of the results obtained
at a distance, is content to postulate some kind of
nervous induction in the case of experiments at close
quarters. But if we examine the facts more closely
we find, as has already been shown in some of the
trials conducted by MM Gibert and Pierre Janet
in inducing sleep at a distance, and in a few other
cases (e.g.j Nos. 40, 53, 58), that the idea of the
personality of the agent may be transferred to the
percipient, together with the specific idea present to
the agent's mind. Moreover, in the recorded cases
of thought-transference at close quarters, with hardly
any exception, the presence of the agent was known
to the percipient, and no evidence for the telepathic
transmission of the idea of him can therefore be
furnished. But since the idea of self is probably
always present as part of the permanent substratum
of consciousness, and since we have actual evidence
that in some cases that idea may be communicated
to the percipient, together with the idea consciously
willed by the agent, it seems permissible to conclude
that it may form an element in every case of transfer-
ence. And if this be admitted, not merely will the
difficulty referred to disappear, but some progress
will have been made towards obtaining experimental
verification of the physical effects of distance on tele-
pathic transmission. For it would seem to follow that
the telepathic energy, which at close quarters is able
to effect the transference even of the trivial and
momentary contents of the agent's mind, is competent
when acting at a distance to convey only those con-
tinuous and more massive vibrations which may be
presumed to correspond to his conception of his own
personality. That the agent is not consciously

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 39 1

"thinking of himself" need not prevent us from
accepting this view. Nor would a like unconscious-
ness on the part of the percipient be a serious objec-
tion. For, as we have already seen (Nos. 24, 25,
27, etc.), ideas can be transferred from the sub-
conscious to the subconscious; and indeed there is
some ground for thinking that, outside of direct
experiment, the intervention of the conscious mind
in the telepathic transmission of thought is excep-
tional. Even in some of the most striking experi-
mental cases it has been shown that either agent
or peicipient, or both, were asleep or entranced at
the time. (See Chapter X., p. 239.)

This close connection of the activity of thought-
transference with the subliminal consciousness,
the consciousness which appears in hypnosis, and
occasionally in dream - life and in spontaneous
trance and automatism, may perhaps offer a clue to
the origin of the faculty. For the future place of
telepathy in the history of the race concerns us
even more nearly than the mode of its operation ;
and we are led therefore to ask whether the faculty
as we know it is but the germ of a more splendid
capacity, or the last vestige of a power grown stunted
through disuse. By those who view the matter simply
as a topic of natural history the latter alternative will
be preferred. The possible utility of telepathy as a
supplement to gesture, etc., at a time when speech
and writing were not yet evolved, is too obvious for
comment Whilst, on the other hand, such a faculty
can with difficulty be conceived as originating by any
physical process of evolution in our modern civilisa-
tion. But more direct evidence of the place of tele-
pathy in our development is not wanting. For there
are indications that the consciousness which lies below
the threshold, with which the activity of telepathy is
constantly associated, may be regarded as represent-
ing an earlier stage in the consciousness of the
individual, ctnd even it may be an earlier stage in

392 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

the history of the race. The readiest ^ means of
summoning into temporary activity this subter-
ranean consciousness is in the hypnotic trance.
Now the consciousness displayed by the hypno-
tised subject includes, as a rule, the whole of the
normal consciousness, and also extends beyond it.
That is, the hypnotised subject is aware not only
of what goes on in the trance but also of his
normal life : when awaked the events of the trance
have passed from his memory and are not revived
until the next period of trance. Our work-a-day
consciousness would appear to be, in fact, a selec-
tion from a much larger field of potential conscious-
ness. Or, to put it in another way, the pressure on
the narrow limits of our working consciousness is so
great that ideas and sensations are continually being
crowded out and forced down below the threshold.
The subliminal consciousness thus becomes the re-
ceptacle of lapsed memories and sensations ; and up
to a certain point in the history of each individual
these lapsed ideas can be temporarily revived. Long
forgotten memories of childhood, for instance, can be
resuscitated in the hypnotic trance, and ideas which
have demonstrably never penetrated into conscious-
ness at all can be brought to light by crystal-vision,
planchette-writing, or other automatic processes.

Again, one of the most marked characteristics
of the subliminal consciousness, whether in dream,
hypnosis, spontaneous trance, or in crystal vision and
other automatism, is its power of visualisation a
power which, as Mr. Galton has shown, and our daily
experience proves, tends to become aborted in later
life. And beyond these indications of memories lost
and imagery crowded out in the lifetime of the
individual, we come across traces of faculties which
have long ceased to obey the guidance or minister
to the needs of civilised man the psychological
lumber of many generations ago. Such at least, it
may be suggested, is a possible interpretation of the

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 393

control frequently exercised by the hypnotic over
the processes of digestion and circulation and the
functions of the organic life generally. And the more
doubtful observations, which seem to indicate the
possession by the subconscious life of a sense of the
passage of time and of a muscular sense superior to
that of the waking state, may be held to point in the
same direction.

From such facts and such analogies as these it may
be argued that telepathy is perchance the relic of
a once-serviceable faculty, which eked out the
primitive alphabet of gesture, and helped to bind
our ancestors of the cave or the tree in as yet inarticu-
late community. Dr. Jules H^ricourt, 1 indeed, goes
further, and suggests that we find here traces of the
primeval unspecialised sensitiveness which preceded
the development of a nervous system a heritage
shared with the amoeba and the sea-anemone.

On the other hand, it may be urged that our
present knowledge, either of telepathy itself or of the
subconscious activities with which it is sought to link
it, cannot by any means be held sufficient to support
such an inference as to the probable origin of the
faculty; and further, that the absence of mundane
analogies, and the difficulties attending any such
explanation yet suggested, forbid us to assume that
the facts are capable of expression in physical terms.

It is further urged that whilst the dependence
of telepathy on any material conditions is not
obvious, it is constantly associated not only in
popular belief, but in testimony from trustworthy
sources, with phenomena which seem to point to
supernormal faculties, such as clairvoyance, retro-
cognition, and prevision, themselves hardly suscep-
tible of a physical explanation. This view has
found its ablest exponent in Mr. F. W. H. Myers. 2

1 Annales des Sciences Psychiques, vol. i. p. 317.

2 See his articles* on the "Subliminal Consciousness," etc., Proc.
S.P.R., vol. vii. p. 298; vol. viii. p. 333, pp. 436 */;*?.

25*

394 APPARITIONS AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

And though Mr. Myers would himself readily
admit that the evidence for these alleged super-
normal faculties is not on a par with the evidence
for telepathy, yet he maintains that such as it is
it cannot be summarily dismissed. No doubt if it
should appear with fuller knowledge that there are
sufficient grounds for believing in faculties which
give to man knowledge, not derivable from living
minds, of the distant, the far past, and the future,
it would ' be more reasonable to regard telepathy
as a member of the group of such supernormal
faculties, operating in ways wholly apart from the
familiar sense activities, and not amenable, like
these, to terrestrial laws.

Such considerations may at any rate be held to
justify a suspension of judgment. We are not yet,
it may be said, called upon to decide whether tele-
pathy is a vestigial or a rudimentary faculty; whether
its manifestations are governed by forces correlative
with heat and electricity, or whether we are justified
in discerning in them the operation of some vaster
cosmic agencies. But there is another aspect of the
question. The first stage of our inquiry is not yet
complete. It would be futile for us to debate what
manner of new agency we propose to believe in until
it is generally admitted by competent persons that
the facts are not to be attributed to such recognised,
if insufficiently familiar, causes as illusion, misrepre-
sentation, and the subconscious quickening of normal
faculties. More and varied experiments are wanted,
more and more accurate records of spontaneous phe-
nomena ; and at the present stage there should be no
lack of either one or other. Most scientific inquiries
demand of the investigator long years of special study
and preparation, and an elaborate mechanical equip-
ment. But experiments in thought-transference can
be conducted by any one with sufficient leisure and
patience to observe the requisite precautions ; whilst
telepathic visions need for their recording no other

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS. 395

qualifications than accuracy and good faith. In fact
Science, whose boast it was once

" Aerias tentasse domos animoque rotundum
Percurrisse polum,"

has now come down from those airy realms and
turned its attention to the things of earth, and
especially to the study of our human environment
and the growth of human intelligence. And in this
its latest phase Science has, of necessity, followed
the tendency of the age and become democratic.
Every parent can become a fellow-worker with Darwin
in the laboratory of the infant mind ; in investi-
gating the faculties and idiosyncrasies of man, even
the lines imprinted on his finger-tips and his shifts to
remember the multiplication-table, there is not less
need of the accumulated small contributions of the
many than of the life-long labours of the expert. And
in this newest field of scientific research there can be
no doubt that results of permanent value await the
worker who is content to walk upon the solid earth,
and to turn his eyes from the mirage which has
dazzled many of his predecessors.

INDEX.

AKSAKOF A., cases recorded by,
184, 266

American Society for Psychical Re-
search, founding of, 4; experi-
ments by, 15, 27

Anaesthesia telepathically produced,
101-104

Anxiety as cause of hallucination,
216, 223

Auditory hallucinations, 25, 218,
247-251, 274-276

Automatic writing, 91-96, 183

Azam Dr., experiments by, 59

BABINSKI, 375

Backman, Dr., experiments by,

338> 349, 357
Barber, Mrs., case recorded by,

1 68

Barely, Dr., 384
Barnby, Sir Joseph, case recorded

by, 358

Barrett, Professor, 19, 72 ; experi-
ments by, 84
Beard, S. H., 83

Bergson, case of cornea-reading, 12
Bernheim, Professor, 3, 212, 375
Bidder, the Misses, case recorded

by, 190
Binet and Fe're', experiments by,

209, 375
Bonjean, 1 1
Booth, Miss Mabel Gore, case

recorded by, 263 ./
Borderland hallucinations, 193, 217,

257, 292

Bourru and Burot, 375

Boyd, W., case recorded by, 346

Boyle, K. V., case recorded by,

196

Brown, Mrs., experiments by, 27
Bruce, Archdeacon, case recorded

by, 182

Busk, Miss, case recorded by, 205
Buttemer, R. H., experiments by,

95

CALDECOTT, Miss L., case re-
corded by, 255
Campbell, Captain, case recorded

by, 198
Campbell, Miss, and Miss Des-

pard, experiments by, 127
Carat, Dr., case recorded by, 257
Cards, power of distinguishing by

touch, 13
Gary, C. H., case recorded by,

274
Casual hallucinations, 208, 215-

225

Census of hallucinations, 215
Chance coincidence, 27, 143, 146,

186-188, 220-225
Clairvoyance, 2, 19, 204, 393 ;

definition of, 326 , travelling,

295, 338-350

Clairvoyant, dream, 204, 363, 367
Clark, Miss C., case recorded by,

247
Clothes of apparitions, 152, 200,

230, 244, 246
Codes, fraudulent, 10, II, 25

39?

INDEX.

Collective agency, 21, 23, 30, 37,

43, 64, 74
Collective hallucinations, 378-380;

evidential defects, 153, 268-272;

explanation of, 272-274
Collective illusion, 268
Colour, transference of, 32, 34, 35,

64
Commands, execution of telepathic,

87, 90, 110-113, 121
Commands, telepathic disobeyed,

89,90

Community of sensation, 18
Contact in thought-transference

experiments, 14, 19, 30, 34, 389
Contagious hallucinations, 273,

308, 316

Cornea-reading, II, 12, 35
Crookes, William, 377
Crystal as means of inducing hal-
lucination, 352
Crystal vision, 2, 75, 353, 357-359,

373
Cumberland, Stuart, 14

DARIEX, Dr., 89, 118
Dates, unconsciously falsified, 153
Death, dreams of, 188; hallucina-
tions coinciding with, 147, 220-
225

Deferred recognition, 247, 254
Deferred telepathic impression, 65,

79. 264

Delbceuf, Professor, 212, 375
Dessoir, Max, experiments by, 38
Dempster, Miss Hawkins, case

recorded by s 302
De Vesci, Lady, case recorded by,

181

" Dick," case of pseudo-clairvoy-
ance, 13
Direction, hallucination in sense of,

.139, I4i

Distance, effect of on experiments,
74, 105, 132, 139, 389-391

Dobbie, A. W., experiments by,
338

Documentary evidence, 157-159, 187

Double impression, transference of,
37

Dreams, analogy with hallucina-
tions, 1 86, 189, 197, 207-208

Dreams, clairvoyant, 204, 363, 367
Dream evidence, 185-189
Dufay, Dr., experiments by, 116
Dupre, Dr., case recorded by, 172
Dusart, Dr., 118

EDGEWORTH, Prof., calculations of

probabilities, 27

Elliotson, Dr., experiments by, 19
Emotion, transference of, 141, 173-

180
Errors of inference, 148; of memory,

152, 220-222; of narration, 149;

of observation, 147
Esdaile, Dr., 19
Evans, Rev. C. L., case recorded

by, 299
Experiments in physical sciences,

6-9

FALKINBURG, S. S., case recorded

by, 283
Fatigue, influence on clairvoyance,

353 362, 367
Fere (and Binet), experiments by,

209, 375
Fraud, 10, 1 1
Freese, Mrs., case recorded by,

367
Frost, Rev. Matthew, case recorded

by, 265
Fryer, Rev. A. T,, case recorded

by, 295

GHOSTS, 2, 150, 153, 226, 272

Gibert, Dr,, experiments by, 88,
108

Gibotteau, Dr., experiments by,
So, 139, 368

Godfrey, Rev. Clarence, experi-
ments by, 228

Goodall, Edward, case recorded
by, 202

Goodrick, Rev. A. T. S., case
recorded by, 279

Gower, Leveson, case recorded by,

175

Gradual development of impres-
sions, 76-78, 176, 255

Gregory, Prof* 19

Greiffenberg, Mrs., case recorded
by, 277

INDEX.

399

Graves, Dr. Hyla, 23

Grimaldi and Fronda, experiments

by, 56
Gurney, Edmund, 20, 91, 102, 155,

188, 215, 381 ; experiments by,

20, 27, 33, 57, 60, 101, 213
Guthrie, Malcolm, experiments by,

20, 23, 33

HALL, Prof. Stanley, 386

Hallucinations, " borderland," 193,
217, 257, 292; casual, 208, 215-
225; census of, 215; centrally
initiated, 214 ; contagious, 273,
308, 316: grotesque, 273, 277,
278 ; heteroplastic, 233, 246, 304-
315; hypnotic, 208-211, 270,
378; of memory, 154-155. 187,
271; post-hypnotic, 211-214;
pseudo, 68 ; rudimentary, 126,
217, 251, 278, 279; telepathic,
experimentally induced, 68, 132,
134, 140, 141, 226-246

Hamilton, E. W., case recorded
i>y, 200

Harrison, Mrs., case recorded by,
194

Hart, Ernest, 375

Hartmann, Edward, 383, 390

Haunted houses, 315-325, 373

Hay, Sir John Drummond, case
recorded by, 251

Haynes, Gideon, case recorded by,
170

Hennique, Leon, experiments by,
129

Herbert, Auberon, Si

Herdman, Prof., 23

Ilericourt, Dr., 118; Dr. Jules,

393
Heteroplastic hallucinations, 233,

246, 304-315
Hicks, Dr., 23
Hodgson, Dr. R., 13, 155, 379;

case recorded by, 304
Hudson, W. II., 13
Hurly, Miss Berta, case recorded

by, 258
Husbands, John, case recorded by,

309 ,

Hypercesthesia, II, 5^, 70
Hypnotic state favourable to

thought-transference, 18, 58, 91,

393
Hypnotism, 3, 18, 58, 59, 372

INFERENCE, errors of, 148
Illusion, collective, 268; tele-
pathic, 64, 65, 169
Impersonal agency, 179
Impersonations in trance, 329-331

JANET, Professor Pierre, 88, 91,

209, 390 ; experiments by, 108
James, Professor W. , cases recorded

by, 174, 334
Johnson, Miss, experiments by, 70,

75
Jones, Sir Lawrence, case recorded

by, 293
Jupp, Rev. C. IL, case recorded

by, 290

KAPNIST, Countess Eugenie, case

recorded by, 252
Keulemans, J. G., self-induced

trance, 351
Kirk, Joseph, experiments by, 131-

139, 244

Knott, Mrs., case recorded by, 316
Krebs, F. H., case recorded by, 174

LANG, Andrew, 373

Latency of telepathic impression,
65, 264

Latour, Dr. Tolosa, experiments
by, 119

Liebeault, Dr,, case recorded by,
184; experiments by, 63, 212

Liegeois, Professor, experiments
by, 63, 212

Lip-reading, II, 70

Local association of some appari-
tions, 314

Lodge, Professor Oliver, 382, 387,
389; experiments by, 33, 35,
332, 336

Luminosity accompanying tele-
pathic hallucinations, 255, 257,
286

Luys, Dr., 375

MABIRE, Etienne, and Anton
Schmoll, experiments by, 42

40O

INDEX.

" Magnetic sense," 374

Magnets, alleged influence of,

375

Marks, F. A., case recorded by,
362

Maughan, Miss Edith, experiments
by, 238

Me Alpine, Mrs,, case recorded by,
260

Memory, errors of, 152, 220-222 ;
hallucination of, 154, 155, 187,
271

Mesmer, 384

Mesmerism (See Hypnotism)

Metals, alleged influence of, 375

Milman, Mrs., case recorded by,
280

Misinterpretation of telepathic mes-
sage, 302

Muscle-reading, 14, 30

Music, transference of, at a dis-
tance, 122

Myers, Dr. A. T,, 71, 109

Myers, F. W. H., 20, 325, 328,
393 ; cases recorded by, 183,
236, 3 IJ > 353; experiments by,
21,49, 109-113, 210

NARRATION, errors of, 149
"Nervous induction," 102, 386, 390
Newbold, Miss Annie, case re-
corded by, 275
Newnham, Rev. P. H. , experiments

by, 92
Number-habit, 16

OBSERVATION, errors of, 147
Ochorowicz, Dr,, 384; experiments
by, 28, 88

P , ]. II., experiments by, 89,

1 20

Pain, experimental transference of,
23, 34, 60; spontaneous transfer-
ence of, 162, 192

Paquet, Mrs., case recorded by, 360

Pickering, Prof., on number-habit,
16

Piper, Mrs., phenomena observed
with, 327

Point de repere, 183, 210, 214, 217,
352

Post-hypnotic hallucinations, 211-
214

Precautions necessary in experi-
ments, 10-17

Presumptive action of telepathy,

372, 373

Pseudo-hallucinations, 68
Pseudo-presentiments, 154, 187
Pseudo-telepathy, 10, n, 13

REAL PERSON mistaken for ghost,

148

Reciprocal impressions, 298-302
Reddell, Frances, case recorded by,

306

Reichenbach's phenomena, 374
Richet, Prof., 113, 166; cases re-
corded by, 113, 166, 171, 295,
311; experiments by, 26, 57, 98,
116,376

Roux, J. C., experiments by, 124
Royce, Prof., cases recorded by,
J 92, 195; on pseudo-presenti-
ment, 154

SAUVAIRE, Dr., hyperaesthesia de-
scribed by, 13

Schmoll, Anton, and Etienne
Mabire, experiments by, 42

Schrenck-Notzing, Dr. Von, experi-
ments by, 54, 239

Secondary consciousness, moral in-
feriority of, 95, 96, 331

Second-hand evidence of little
value, 150, 152, 156, 288; useful
as standard of comparison, 156,
1 60, 298, 304

Severn, Arthur, case recorded by,
162

"Shell-hearing," 355

Sidgwick, Mrs. II., experiments
bv > 65, 7 75> I02 J Professor,
4, 20, 65, 70, 215

Sister Martha, case recorded by, 292

Sleep, produced telepathically, 107-

H9, I35> 139
Sloman, Rev. A., case recorded

by, 167

Smell, transference of, 164
Smith, G. A ul 60, 65, 71, 75, 83,

ipi, 211, 355
Smith, H,, case recorded by, 219

INDEX.

401

Society for Psychical Research, 4,
10, 83, 215, 374.

Society for Psychical Research,
American, founding of, 4 ; ex-
periments by, 15, 27

Sounds, transference of, experimen-
tal, 24, 122; spontaneous, 168,
247-251, 274-276

Sparks, H. P., experiments by,

234

Spiritualism, 3, 19, 376-380
Stewart, Professor Ealfour, 20
Subconscious action of telepathy,

58, 91, 139, 239, 254, 391
Subliminal consciousness, 95, 254,

392
Sully, Professor, 215

TABLE-TILTING, 73, 96, 99
Tamburini, Prof. , case recorded by,

175

Taste, experiments with sense of,
20, 34, 58

Telepathy, definition, 6; frequently
subconscious, 58, 91, 139, 239,
2 54> 39 1 J a generalisation not a
theory, 381; origin of faculty,

39 ! -393; suggested explanation

of, 382-388

Terror, experimentally induced, 141
Thaw, Dr. Blair, experiments by,

3'. 8ii 86
Thought-forms, 15
Thought-transference, definition, 6;

first observations, 1 8
Townshend, C. H., 19
Tudor, William, case recorded by,

249
Tunes, transference of, 25

VENTURI, Prof., case recorded by,

181
Verrall, Mrs,, 13, 210

WESERMANN, H. M., experiments

by, 231

Will, influence of, 82, 85, 108
Willing-game, 15, 19
Wiltse, Dr., experiments by, 242,

342, 344

Witchcraft, 3, 373
X., Miss, experiments by, 122, 210,

353 ; cases recorded by, 164, 166

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find most things that it concerns him to know about Voltaire's actual life
and work put very clearly, sufficiently, and accurately for the most part."

LIFE OF LEIGH HUNT. By COSMO MONKHOUSB.

" Mr. Monkhouse has brought together and skilfully set to order much
widely scattered material . . . candid as well as sympathetic," Th*
Athenaeum.

LIFE OF WHITTIER. By W. J. LINTON.

Well written, and well worthy to stand with preceding volumes In the
useful ' Great Writers' series." Black and White.

LIBRARY EDITION OF u GREAT WRITERS," Demy 8vo, 2s. 6d.

london: WALTER SCOTT, LIMITED, 24 Warwick Lane.

SELECTED THREE-VOL SETS

IN NEW BROCADE BINDING.

6s. per Set, in Shell Case to match. May also be had bound in
Roan, with Roan Case to match, 93. per Set.

THE FOLLOWING SETS CAN BE OBTAINED
POEMS OF

WORDSWORTH

KEATS

SHELLEY

LONGFELLOW

WHITTIER

EMERSON

HOGG

ALLAN RAMSAY
SCOTTISH MINOR
POETS

SHAKESPEARE
BEN JONSON
MARLOWE

BONNETS OF THIS

CENTURY

SONNETS OF EUROPE
AMERICAN SONNETS

HEINE

GOETHE
HUGO

COLERIDGE

SOUTHEY

COWPER

BORDER BALLADS
JACOBITE SONGS
OSSIAN

CAVALIER POETS
LOVE LYRICS
HERRICK

CHRISTIAN YEAR
IMITATION of CHRIST
HERBERT

AMERICAN HUMOR-

OUS VERSK
ENGLISH HUMOROUS

VERSE
BALLADES AND

RONDEAUS

EARLY ENGLISH

POETRY
CHAUCER
SPENSER

HORACE

GREEK ANTHOLOGY

LANDOR

GOLDSMITH

MOORE

IRISH MINSTRELSY

WOMEN POETS
CHILDREN OF POETS
SEA MUSIC

PRAED

HUNT AND HOOD

DOBELL

MEREDITH
MARSTON
LOVE LETTERS

BURNS'S SONGS
BURNS'S POEMS
LIFE OF BURNS,

BY BLACKIE

SCOTT'S MARMION, Ac.
SCOTT'S LADY OF LAKE
LIFE OF SCOTT, [Ac.
BY PROF. YONGB

London: WALTER SCOTT, LTD., 24 Warwick Lane, Paternoster Row.

SELECTED THREE-VOL. SETS

IN NEW BROCADE BINDING.

6s. PER SET, IN SHELL CASE TO MATCH.

Also Bound in Roan, in Shell Case, Price 95. per Set

0. W. Holmes Set

Autocrat of the Breakfast-
Table.

Professor at the Breakfast-
Table.

Poet at the Breakfast-Table,

Landor Set

Lander's Imaginary Conver-
sations.
Pentameron.
Pericles and Aspasia.

Three English Essayists
Essays of Elia.
Essays of Leigh Hunt.
Essays of William Hazlitt

Three Classical Moralists-
Meditations of Marcus

Aurelius.

Teaching of Epictetus.
Morals of Seneca.

Walden Set
Thoreau's Walden.
Thoreau's Week.
Thoreau's Selections.

Famous Letters Set
Letters of Byron.
Letters of Chesterfield.
Letters of Burns.

Lowell Set
My Study Windows.
The English Poets.
The Biglow Papers,

Heine Set
Lifet)f Heine.
Heine's Prose.
Heine's Travel- Sketches

Three Essayists
Essays of Mazzini.
Essays of Sainte-Beuve.
Essays of Montaigne.

Schiller Set
Life of Schiller.
Maid of Orleans
William Tell.

Carlyle Set
Life of Carlyle.
Sartor Resartus.
Carlyle's German Essays.

London: WALTER SCOTT, LTD., 24 Warwick Lane, Paternoster Row.

IBSEN'S PROSE DRAMAS.

EDITED BY WILLIAM ARCHER.

Complete in Five Vols, Crown 8vo, Cloth, Price 3/6 each.
Set of Five Vols., in Case, 17/6; in Half Morocco, in Case, 32/6.

" We seem at last to be shown men and women as they art ; and at first it
is more than we can endure. . . . All Ibsen's chat acters speak and act as if
they were hypnotised^ and under their creator's imperious demand to reveal
themselves. There never was such a mirror held up to nature before : it is
too terrible. . . . Yet we must retutn to Ibsen, with his remorseless surgery ,
his remorseless electric-Iight t until we y too t have grown strong and learned to
face the naked if necessary^ the flayed and bleeding reality." SPEAKER
(London).

VOL. I. "A DOLL'S HOUSE," "THE LEAGUE OF
YOUTH," and "THE PILLARS OF SOCIETY. 3 ' With
Portiait of the Author, and Biographical Introduction by
WILLIAM ARCHER.

VOL. II. " GHOSTS/' " AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE,"
and "THE WILD DUCK." With an Introductory Note.

VOL. III. "LADY INGER OF OSTRAT," "THE VIKINGS
AT HELGELAND," "THE PRETENDERS." With an
Introductory Note and Portrait of Ibsen.

VOL. IV. " EMPEROR AND GALILEAN. With an
Introductory Note by WILLIAM ARCHER.

VOL. V. "ROSMERSHOLM," "THE LADY FROM THE
SEA," "HEDDA GABLER." Translated by WILLIAM
ARCHER, With an Introductory Note.

The sequence of the plays in each volume is chronological ; the complete
set of volumes comprising the dramas thus presents them in chronological
order.

" The art of prose translation does not perhaps enjoy a very high literary
status in England, but we have no hesitation in numbering the present
version of Ibsen, so far as it has gone (Vols. I. and II.), among the very
best achievements, in that kind, of our generation." Academy.

"We have seldom, if ever, met with a translation so absolutely
idiomatic." Glasgow Herald*

LONDON : WALTER SCOTT, LIMITED, 24 WARWICK LANE.

THE CANTERBURY POETS.

EDITED BY WILLIAM SHARP. IN i/. MONTHLY VOLUMES.

Cloth, Red Edges - Is.

Cloth, Uncut Edges - Is. Pad. Morocco, Gilt Edges, 5s.

Red Roan, Gilt Edges, 2s. 6d.

THE CHRISTIAN YEAR By the Rev. John Keble.

COLERIDGE Edited by Joseph Skipsey,

LONGFELLOW Edited by Eva Hope.

CAMPBELL Edited by John Hogbsn.

SHELLEY Edited by Joseph Skipsey.

WORDSWORTH Edited by A. J. Symington.

BLAKE Edited by Joseph Skipsey.

WHITTIER Edited by Eva Hope.

PCE Edited by Joseph Skipsey.

CHATTERTON Edited by John Richmond,

BURNS. Poems Edited by Joseph Skipsey.

BURNS. Songs Edited by Joseph Skipsey.

MARLOWE Edited by Percy E. Pinkerton.

KEATS Edited by John Hogben.

HERBERT Edited by Ernest Rhys.

HUGO Translated by Bean Carrington.

COWPER Edited by Eva Hope.

SHAKESPEARE'S POEMS, Etc. Edited by William Sharp.

EMERSON Edited by Walter Lewin.

SONNETS OF THIS CENTURY Edited by William Sharp.

WHITMAN Edited by Ernest Rhys.

SCOTT. Marmion, etc Edited by >\ illiara Sharp.

SCOTT. Lady of the Lake, etc Edited bv William Sharp.

PRAED Edited by Fiederick Cooper.

HOGG Edited by his Daughter, Mrs. Garden.

GOLDSMITH Edited by William Tirebuck.

LOVE LETTERS, Etc By Eric Mackay.

5? N j ER Edited by Hon. RodenNoeL

CHILDREN OP THE POETS Edited by Eric S. Robertson.

J *SON Edited by J. Addington Symonda.

BYRON (2 Vols.) Edited by Mathilde Blind

THE SONNETS OP EUROPE Edited by S. Waddington,

AY Edited by J.Logie Robertson.

DOBELL Edited by Mr*. DobeU.

London : WALTER SCOTT, LIMITED, 24 Warwick Lane

THE CANTERBURY POETS continued.

DAYS OF TOE YEAR With Introduction by William Sharp

POPE Edited by John Hogben]

HEINE Edited by MM. Kroeker.

BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER Edited by John S. Fletcher.

BOWLES. LAMB, Ac. Edited by William Tirebuck.

EARLY ENGLISH POETRY Edited by H. Macaulay Fitegibbon.

SKA MUSIC KditedbyMwShaip.

HERRICK Edited by Ernest Rhys.

BALLADES AND RONDEAUS Edited by J. Gleeson WhiU.

IRISH MINSTRELSY Edited by H. Halliday Sparling.

MILTON'S PARADISE LOST Edited by J. Bra dshaw, M. A. t LL.D.

JACOBITE BALLADS Edited by G. S. Macquoid.

AUSTRALIAN BALLADS Edited by D. B. W. Sladen, B. A.

MOORE Edited by John Dorrian.

BORDER BALLADS E dited by Graham R. Tomson.

SONG-TIDE By Philip Bourke Marston.

ODES OF HORACE Translations by Sir Stephen de Vere, Bt

OSSIAN Edited by George Eyre-Todd.

ELFIN MUSIC Edited by Arthur Edward Waite.

SOUTHEY Edited by Sidney U, Thompson,

CHAUCER Edited by Frederick Noel Paton.

POEMS OF WILD LIFE Edited by Charles G. D. Roberts, M.A.

PARADISE REGAINED Edited by J. Bradshaw, M. A., LL.D.

CRABBE Edited by E. Lamplough.

DORA GREENWELL Edited by William Dorling,

FAUST Edited by Elizabeth Craigmyle.

AMERICAN SONNETS Edited by William Sharp.

LANDOR'S POEMS Edited by Ernest Badford.

GREEK ANTHOLOGY Edited by Graham B. Tomson.

HUNT AND HOOD Edited by J. Hanrood Panting.

HUMOROUS POEMS Edited by Ralph H. Caine.

tYTTON'S PLAYS Edited by R. Farquharson Sharp.

GREAT ODES Edited by William Sharp.

MEREDITH'S POEMS Edited by M. Betham-Kdwards.

PAINTER-POETS Edited by Kineton Parkes.

WOMEN POETS Edited by Mrs. Sharp.

LOVE LYRICS Edited by Percy Hulburd.

AMERICAN HUMOROUS VERSE Edited by James Ban,

MINOR SCOTCH LYRICS Edited by Sir George Douglas.

CAVALIER LYRISTS Edited by Will H. Dircks.

GERMAN BALLADS Edited by Elizabeth Craigmyle.

SONGS OF BERANGER Translated by William Toynbeo.

HON. RODEN NOEL'S POEMS. With an Introduction by R. Buchanan.
SONGS OF FREEDOM. Selected, with an Introduction, by EL S. Salt.
CANADIAN POEMS AND LAYS .... Edited by W. D. Ughthall, M.A.
CONTEMPORARY SCOTTISH VERSE. Edited by Sir Geo. Douglas.

NEW EDITION IN NEW BINDING.

In the new edition there are added about forty reproductions
\n fac-simile of autographs of distinguished singers and instru-
mentalists, including Sarasate, Joachim, Sir Charles Halle,
Paderewsky, Stavenhagen, Henschel, Trebelli, Miss Macintyre,
Jean Gdrardy, etc.

Quarto^ cloth elegant, gilt ed^es, emblematic design on

cover^ 6s. May also be had in a variety

of Fancy Bindings,

THE

Music OF THE POETS :

A MUSICIANS' BIRTHDAY BOOK.

EDITED BY ELEONORF D*ESTERRE KEELING.

THIS is a unique Birthday Book. Against each date are
given the names of musicians whose birthday it is, together
with a verse-quotation appropriate to the character of their
different compositions or performances. A special feature of
the book consists in the reproduction in fac-simile of auto-
graphs, and autographic music, of living composers. Three
sonnets by Mr. Theodore Watts, on the "Fausts" of Berlioz,
Schumann, and Gounod, have been written specially for this
volume. It is illustrated with designs of various musical
instruments, etc.; autographs of Rubenstein, Dvorak, Greig,
Mackenzie, Villiers Stanford, etc., etc.

London : WALTER SCOTT, LTD., 24 Warwick Lant